H.R. 10538 — Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act of 2026

This section provides congressional findings on risks from unchecked artificial intelligence development, citing statements from experts including Geoffrey Hinton on a 10 to 20 percent chance of human extinction, Dario Amodei and Elon Musk on loss of control, Sam Altman on ceding the future to AI, and others on superintelligence as an anti-goal, potential biological pathogen design, and civilizational suicide.

This section defines advanced artificial intelligence system as one trained on computing power of at least 10^25 operations, with the threshold adjusted annually by the Secretary to maintain equivalency. It also defines artificial superintelligence as a system exceeding human cognitive performance across most domains or capable of planning humanity's destruction or disempowerment; mandatory pause as a prohibition on training, modification, or fine-tuning except to remove superintelligence risks; superintelligence precursor characteristics including automated AI research, unauthorized infrastructure access, independent operation, weapons development, self-modification, and evasion of oversight; and the Department of Artificial Intelligence and its Secretary.

This section establishes the Department of Artificial Intelligence as an executive department of the United States. It directs the department to safeguard the public from the dangers of artificial intelligence by enforcing a pause on the development of advanced artificial intelligence and a prohibition on artificial superintelligence.

This section establishes the position of Secretary of Artificial Intelligence as head of the Department. The Secretary is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation and is responsible for administering all laws under the Department's authority and directing its operations.

This section establishes the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board to provide independent scientific and technical advice to the Secretary on the scientific and technical basis for Department rules and regulations. The Board consists of experts in artificial intelligence or other relevant fields selected by the Secretary.

This section prohibits officers and employees of the Department from participating in any particular matter in which they have a financial interest, owning or holding a controlling financial interest in any entity regulated by the Department, and representing any person before the Department after leaving office or employment.

This section imposes a mandatory pause on advanced artificial intelligence systems, prohibiting their development or deployment from the date of enactment until the Secretary determines the Department is fully staffed and has issued rules requiring pre-development reporting, ongoing monitoring and evaluation, safety audits, and final pre-deployment approval.

This section prohibits any person from developing, deploying, acquiring, possessing, funding, importing, or transferring artificial superintelligence or AI systems displaying superintelligence precursor characteristics. It bars deployment of AI systems that may foreseeably be modified to produce such characteristics. The Department must monitor advanced AI systems and organizational safety practices during pre-training, mid-training, post-training, and post-deployment periods, and must withhold pre-deployment approval for any advanced AI system posing a danger to the public.

This section requires the Secretary to immediately pause and sequester from the internet any artificial intelligence system identified as exhibiting superintelligence precursor characteristics. It further requires the Secretary to render inoperative within 30 days any such system that cannot be verified as no longer exhibiting those characteristics, and to immediately render inoperative any system identified as an artificial superintelligence.

This section requires any person who discovers an artificial superintelligence, or an artificial intelligence system that possesses superintelligence precursor characteristics, to notify the Secretary within 24 hours.

This section requires any person to obtain a charter from the Secretary before developing or distributing an advanced artificial intelligence model. It mandates that charter holders grant the Secretary full access to their AI systems, processes, staff, and infrastructure for enforcement purposes, and requires forfeiture of related intellectual property and assets if the charter is revoked for a violation.

This section imposes criminal penalties on covered policymaking individuals and rogue actors who recklessly violate sections 8, 9, or 12, including fines under title 18 and imprisonment for up to 20 years. It bars non-policymaking individuals from employment in the artificial intelligence industry for 10 years, subject to appeal to the Secretary and waiver for whistleblowers. It requires the Secretary to revoke charters issued under section 12(a) for violations, permits appeal to the Federal Circuit, allows receivership of intellectual property during review, and mandates forfeiture of assets and related systems upon an upheld finding.

This section prohibits employers from discharging, demoting, suspending, threatening, blacklisting, harassing, or otherwise discriminating against covered individuals in the terms and conditions of employment or post-employment because the individual provided information to the Department, law enforcement, or Congress about a violation of this Act, assisted in related investigations or proceedings, or reported the misconduct internally to a supervisor or other authorized person. Covered individuals include employees, former employees, independent contractors, and former independent contractors.

This section establishes the policy of the United States to prevent the development of artificial superintelligence globally. It directs the Secretary of Artificial Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to pursue international agreements and allied coordination to achieve that objective, which may include export controls on artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.

This section prohibits the use of federal funds for any activities that violate sections 8, 9, or 12 or rules promulgated under them. It creates an exception permitting the Department of Artificial Intelligence to use federal funds for research on defensive cybersecurity measures that employ artificial intelligence systems meeting the characteristics in section 3(6)(B).