UK Artificial Superintelligence Bill

Legislators in both the UK and US have introduced bills to ban artificial superintelligence. In the UK, Labour MP Alex Sobel tabled the Artificial Superintelligence Bill on September 8, which would criminalize the development, deployment, and operation of ASI, defined as AI that outcompetes humans in most domains, with penalties including fines or imprisonment, and would legally require the government to pursue an international agreement banning ASI globally. More than 70 MPs and peers, including 15 former government ministers, former civil service head Robin Butler, and MPs from Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and SNP parties, wrote to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging his support. In the US, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act. On the industry side, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Fortune that current safety standards are not sufficient to advance capabilities further, that he would halt development even at investors' expense, and that AI beyond human control is possible. He alluded to a pact among lab leaders to slow development while safety and alignment catch up, and described the OpenAI IPO as ill-timed. When Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell pressed him on why a small group of lab leaders could not coordinate, Altman said, 'I think that will happen.'