Bloomington, Indiana, Bans Superintelligent AI, Hoping 350 Other Cities Will Follow

Bloomington’s City Council has unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting the distribution and deployment of artificial superintelligence, citing fears that the technology could cause catastrophic harm. The measure matters beyond the Indiana city because its supporters hope other municipalities will adopt similar rules, potentially shaping how AI developers operate across the United States.

The ordinance defines superintelligence as a system able to outperform humans on essentially all cognitive tasks without continuous human oversight; no models have yet been designated under the rule, so services such as ChatGPT remain available. The ban would end 91 days after Indiana adopts a comprehensive safety framework, or if the council finds broad scientific consensus and a risk assessment showing 99.9999 per cent certainty of safety. Councilmember Dave Rollo said around 350 similarly sized cities could follow, while critic Adam Thierer warned that differing local rules could create a major compliance burden.