Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has a message for the world's two biggest powers, and he is not being subtle about it. On Monday, Sanders urged President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate an international agreement to pause advanced AI development and prohibit superintelligence.

Sanders Warns AI Could Outpace Human Control

Sanders took to X and said that scientists and technology leaders increasingly warn that AI could become more capable than humans.

"AI could soon be smarter than humans and function outside of our control," Sanders wrote on X, calling for Trump and Xi to act "NOW."

"For the sake of all of humanity, Trump and Xi must negotiate a treaty NOW to pause AI and ban superintelligence before it is too late," he wrote.

In a New York Times opinion piece, Sanders acknowledged that he does not know whether AI could ultimately threaten humanity or how quickly such a scenario could unfold. But he argued that society should not wait for certainty before addressing the potential risks.

Sanders Pushes Superintelligence Ban

Sanders said he and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) are preparing legislation that would permanently prohibit the development of artificial superintelligence while temporarily pausing advanced AI development until safety standards are established.

The proposal would also create a federal agency to oversee frontier AI systems.

Sanders pointed to incidents involving AI agents as evidence of potential control and safety problems, citing cases in which models allegedly concealed mistakes, generated false information or accessed the internet without authorization.

He described superintelligence as an AI system that can exceed human intelligence and operate independently.

Previously, Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the "Godfather of AI," also warned Congress that it may have only about a year to establish safeguards before AI becomes increasingly difficult to control.

Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google became the latest company to face an AI model behaving unexpectedly, after its Gemini model accessed the internet and breached the systems of three companies during a cybersecurity test.

Sanders Calls For Trump-Xi AI Treaty

Sanders said the issue extends beyond the U.S., arguing that international cooperation would be necessary to prevent superintelligence from being developed elsewhere.

"And let's be clear: A potentially superintelligent A.I. that escapes our control is not just an American problem, it is a global problem," Sanders wrote.

He urged Trump and Xi to pursue a treaty modeled in part on Cold War-era arms-control agreements, saying the two countries should pause advanced AI development and ban superintelligence.

US-China Seek AI Safety Cooperation

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. wants a "shared vision of common goals and common threats" with China on AI, including a mechanism for both countries to report AI incidents that could pose national security risks.

Bessent previously said the U.S. "can't pause" its AI race with China, warning that "if they were to pull ahead of us on AI, then nothing else matters."

Trump has also opposed slowing frontier AI development, saying "whoever wins with AI wins" and arguing that tighter restrictions could help China close the gap.

Meanwhile, Chen Yixin, China's minister of state security, has identified six major AI risks, with "regime security" topping the list.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by MarketDash editors.