‘Pause AI development, ban superintelligence’ – Sanders to Trump, Xi

Senator Bernie Sanders has called for a halt to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, warning that the development of superintelligence could pose a grave threat to humanity. In a post on social media, the Vermont senator urged President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to address this issue during their upcoming summit, advocating for a treaty to prevent the creation of superintelligent AI.

Sanders urged that the situation be taken seriously, comparing it to a dangerous race towards a cliff’s edge. The senator's stance echoes that of prominent tech leaders Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk, who have also called for slowing the pace of AI development. Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, emphasized that AI's ability to self-improve, known as recursive self-improvement, is progressing at an alarming rate and could outpace our ability to understand and control these systems.

Altman, CEO of OpenAI, agreed with Amodei's concerns and committed to implementing independent evaluators with access to their systems. Elon Musk, who has long warned about the potential dangers of AI, praised Amodei's position and echoed his call for action. However, the issue remains contentious, with some, like researcher Jacob Coxon who recently resigned from Anthropic, arguing that the race to create superintelligent AI is reckless and puts lives at risk.