71 UK Lawmakers Back Bill to Ban Superintelligent AI

On September 12, Labour MP Alex Sobel announced that 71 cross-party MPs and peers had signed in support of his Artificial Superintelligence Security Bill, urging the UK government to ban the development of superintelligent AI (ASI) and broker an international agreement. Signatories span Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and SNP, including 15 former ministers and former Cabinet Secretary Robin Butler. Campaign group ControlAI published the bill's details, calling it the world's first ASI ban formally tabled in a legislature and proposing a G20-driven international ban. The initiative explicitly preserves the UK's strategic AI ambitions rather than opposing AI wholesale.

Confirmed

• 71 cross-party parliamentarians signed the call to ban ASI development and urged the Prime Minister to adopt the bill
• Signatories include 15 former ministers and Robin Butler across Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and SNP
• ControlAI's published details: the first such bill in a legislature, directly banning ASI R&D and pursuing a G20-coordinated global ban, citing recent AI-control incidents
• Sobel frames the move as guarding against extinction risk while keeping strategic AI ambitions

Unconfirmed

• Several posts name addressee Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, inconsistent with public records and pending verification; one post cites 40 signatories versus Sobel's 71
• No follow-up yet on the bill's parliamentary prospects or G20 traction

Why it matters

• If passed, it would directly constrain frontier AI R&D in UK labs; @Patrice argues UK labs are in serious trouble
• A rare collective legislative call to ban ASI outright, with potential G20 spillover as a template for other countries
• James Wise calls the position self-contradictory and damaging to UK competitiveness; Gary Marcus argues the ban should target poorly aligned AI, not superintelligence itself
• RobertHaisfield dismisses the move, noting only two countries' stances truly matter on pausing/banning ASI, and the UK is not one of them

2026-09-12 ~ 2026-09-13 · 10 related posts

Full story(11 episodes)→

• Episode 1: Sanders Bill Would Permanently Ban Superintelligence, With Up to 20 Years in Prison(2026-09-04, 21 posts)
• Episode 2: Sanders: Rogue Superintelligence Is All Humanity's Problem(2026-09-04, 3 posts)
• Episode 3: UK Parliament Sees World's First Anti-Superintelligence Bill as US Follows Suit(2026-09-08, 8 posts)
• Episode 4: Sanders Moves to Ban Superintelligence, Sparking AI Debate(2026-09-09, 3 posts)
• Episode 5: 71 UK Lawmakers Back Bill to Ban Superintelligent AI(2026-09-12, 10 posts)
• Episode 6: Viral Claim: Sanders AI Bill Would Jail Frontier AI Developers Up to 20 Years(2026-09-12, 12 posts)
• Episode 7: Sanders Proposes Bill to Ban Superintelligence and Pause Advanced AI(2026-09-12, 2 posts)
• Episode 8: Sanders Proposes 20-Year Prison Terms for ASI Developers(2026-09-14, 2 posts)
• Episode 9: Jensen Huang on Ezra Klein Show: Shut down labs that can't control their models(2026-09-23, 27 posts)
• Episode 10: Sanders Bill Proposes Permanent Ban on Superintelligence, Up to 20 Years in Prison(2026-09-23, 23 posts)
• Episode 11: Sanders ASI Ban Bill Draws Fire from Safety Researchers and Sacks(2026-09-26, 5 posts)

• [source] UK MP backed by 71 colleagues introduces bill to prohibit development of superintelligent AI — connoraxiotes · 2026-09-12
• 70+ UK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on artificial superintelligence after 10% extinction warning — nordicinst · 2026-09-12
• [source] 70+ UK MPs urge international ban on superintelligent AI development; Gary Marcus weighs in — GaryMarcus · 2026-09-12
• 40 British MPs call for superintelligence ban; critics say it doesn't matter — nptacek · 2026-09-12
• 40 British MPs sign letter urging PM to ban development of superintelligent AI — ctjlewis · 2026-09-13
• [source] ControlAI details UK ASI Security Bill, first-ever legislation to ban superintelligence — rohanpaul_ai · 2026-09-13

4 near-duplicate retellings: ___Patrice___ · zetalyrae · KeeganMcB · rohanpaul_ai