Bloomington, Indiana, passed a ban Wednesday on a kind of AI that still exists only on paper. All seven council members present voted for it. If someone does build it, the Indiana city intends to bar anyone from distributing or deploying it within city limits, even if the only piece of equipment in Bloomington is the laptop someone uses to connect to it.
Say a company builds an AI that can rewrite its own code and do just about any mental task better than a human. It could keep every server out of Indiana and still be in trouble for letting somebody in Bloomington use the app. The city can fine a continuing violation at up to $2,500 a day. First, the mayor has to sign off, and the ordinance has to be published.
Dave Rollo wrote the ordinance. He also wrote the memo telling his colleagues what he thought would happen to the city budget if they passed it.
“Ordinance 2026-29 does not create any unfunded mandates or financial liability. Section 2.90.040 of Ordinance 2026-29 gives the city complete enforcement discretion.”
Peter Jensen is hoping seven votes in Bloomington will get the ball rolling somewhere else. The Safe AI Forever Institute president posted his group’s announcement and urged other cities to follow suit.
THE FIRST LAW IN HISTORY TO BAN SUPERINTELLIGENCE. It’s a win for humanity! City of Bloomington spearheads the struggle to protect people from the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). The first law in history to ban Superintelligence passed unanimously by the City of Bloomington Indiana Common Council. On the 4th of November 2026 the City of Bloomington said no. Not in our city! The law simply states: “Prohibition on distribution of Superintelligence. No person or corporation shall distribute or permit to be distributed nor deployed into the premises of any citizen or business in our City, any Superintelligence for any purpose.” Sponsored by Dave Rollo, Council District 4 Representative, Ordinance 2026-29 becomes the first law in history where lawmakers actually step up to protect their own citizens from the existential risk of Artificial Superintelligence. The city of Bloomington Indiana has set an example for many more cities to follow. Thanks to expert witness testimony! @DavidSKrueger @DKokotajlo @AnthonyNAguirre @PeterBerezinBCA https://t.co/qoJjyZJZjP
— Peter A. JENSEN (@peterAjensen) November 6, 2026
Even if an officer in Bloomington spotted the app open on a business computer, they’d still have no way of knowing whether the software behind it violated the ordinance. The council did give police and city lawyers a say in whether to pursue enforcement. But it didn’t explain how they’d test the software, or even get hold of it, if the company running it is in another state. Rollo is right about only one thing. This city can save itself the hassle and cost by shelving or repealing the ordinance.
If Indiana passes a qualifying law, Bloomington’s ban can expire. The city wrote itself a much harder way out. Start with scientists agreeing the technology is safe to 99.9999 percent certainty. Then get more than 95 percent of registered voters to vote yes. A voter who stays home makes it just as hard to reach that number as somebody who votes no. There’s a hitch before you get anywhere near a ballot box, too. The Home Rule Act Bloomington relies on for the ban says the legislature has to expressly authorize a city to conduct an election.
Last week, Democrat Rep. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) called for a national pause on advanced AI development and a ban on superintelligence. I want the people building these tools to keep working here. When a business uses one of those tools to take money from customers under false pretenses, the police can investigate the fraud. As for the water plant, Bloomington already gets to decide who has a login and what they can install.
I’d leave the folks paying the water bill free to decide what they run on their own computers. They’ve already paid for a police department. I doubt many of them want to pay it to figure out what’s running in the browser next door.
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