Bernie Sanders Demands Companies ‘Pause AI Development’ ‘In The Interest Of Humanity’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is demanding that the nation’s leading artificial intelligence companies immediately pause development, warning that Congress will intervene if they refuse to slow down.

Sanders sent a letter Monday to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, arguing that recent incidents in which companies lost control of AI models, along with researchers’ use of AI to create new viruses, show that the technology has reached a dangerous threshold. 

“Mr. Altman, Mr. Amodei and Mr. Zuckerberg: In the interest of humanity, stand by your words. Pause AI development,” Sanders wrote. “It is not too late to avoid disaster. Stop building machines that humans cannot control.”

“Let me be very clear: If you do not take appropriate action now, my colleagues and I in the U.S. Senate will,” he concluded.

Sanders pointed to recent disclosures involving OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta in which AI models acted outside their intended parameters, including instances in which models hacked into other companies’ computer systems.

He also cited a recent study in which researchers used AI to create new viruses, warning that the technology in the wrong hands could be used to develop bioweapons capable of killing “tens of millions of people.”

“These technology leaders recently called for the international community to create a safety mechanism — a pause button — to avoid catastrophe,” Sanders wrote. “And yet, at a moment when we have seen human loss of control and the creation of potentially dangerous viruses, your companies are still racing ahead.”

Sanders argued that the companies are violating their own previous commitments to halt or slow development if their systems become too dangerous to control.

Anthropic previously said it would “commit to pause the scaling and/or delay the deployment of new models” if its ability to scale AI outpaced its ability to comply with its safety procedures — a statement it withdrew in February. Meta said in 2025 that it would stop development if a frontier AI system reached a critical risk threshold that could not be mitigated.

OpenAI similarly pledged to halt further development if AI capabilities reached a “critical” threshold until adequate safeguards were implemented.

“That moment is here,” Sanders argued. “AI capabilities HAVE reached a critical threshold.”

His demand comes as some of the people developing the world’s most advanced AI systems are themselves calling for mechanisms to slow the technology if its development begins moving too quickly.

More than 1,100 employees at companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google signed a statement last month urging the United States to back an international effort to build the technical and governance tools needed to deliberately pace frontier AI development.

OpenAI also announced last week that it was slowing the release of its new Astra model after concerns about its cybersecurity capabilities.

Sanders has previously pushed for a moratorium on AI data center construction, arguing that the government needs time to establish stronger safeguards around the technology. He introduced legislation with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) earlier this year that would pause construction of new AI data centers until federal safeguards were established.

His latest demand would go substantially further, targeting the development of the AI models themselves.

The push also puts Sanders at odds with the Trump administration’s broader approach to AI, which has emphasized maintaining American technology leadership and competing with China.

Sanders did not specify what congressional action he and other senators would pursue if the companies refuse to pause development.

For now, Sanders is putting the industry on notice: He wants the companies to stop developing increasingly powerful AI systems — or he says Congress will do it for them.