Ro Khanna backs AI safety bill banning recursive self-improving technology

Rep. Ro Khanna wants to make sure AI doesn’t start upgrading itself without asking permission first. The California Democrat, who serves as the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, has been championing a ban on recursive self-improving AI models, the kind of systems that can enhance their own capabilities without human intervention.

His push isn’t happening in a vacuum. It comes alongside the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, introduced on September 23 by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Greg Casar, which Khanna has publicly supported. That bill proposes penalties of up to 20 years in prison and what’s being called a “corporate death penalty” for violations.

What recursive self-improving AI actually means

Recursive self-improving AI refers to systems that can autonomously modify and enhance their own architecture or training processes without a human pressing any buttons along the way. Khanna has warned specifically about the potential loss of human control over such systems, framing it as one of the more pressing existential risks in the current AI landscape.

His proposed solution involves two prongs. First, ban the development of recursive self-improving models until adequate safety safeguards are in place. Second, establish a federal AI Safety Agency modeled after the FDA, an institution that would serve as the regulatory gatekeeper for frontier AI development.

The geopolitical dimension

Khanna’s advocacy isn’t limited to domestic AI labs. He has called for binding international agreements with China on AI safety, including verifiable inspections and accountability measures. He has publicly urged US laboratories like Anthropic and major Chinese tech firms, including DeepSeek and Alibaba, to adopt stricter commitments on frontier AI advancements.

The Sanders-Casar bill that Khanna supports takes a maximalist approach. It calls for a pause on the development of superintelligent systems until a dedicated Department of Artificial Intelligence is created. For context, the last entirely new cabinet-level department created was the Department of Homeland Security in 2002.

What this means for the tech industry

The severity of the proposed penalties tells you something about the seriousness of the intent. Twenty years in prison and a “corporate death penalty,” presumably meaning forced dissolution of a company, are not slap-on-the-wrist consequences.

It’s worth noting that as of late September 2026, Khanna himself has not introduced standalone legislation on AI safety. His role has been primarily one of advocacy and support for existing measures like the Sanders-Casar bill.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.