Alex Sobel is a British Labour politician, Member of Parliament for Leeds Central and Headingley, and Chair of Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (Human Rights and the Regulation of AI (Joint Committee on Human Rights, HC 160, September 2026)). In September 2026 he introduced the Artificial Superintelligence Bill in the House of Commons, signed first on a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister in support of it, and chaired the committee that published a report calling for a comprehensive UK AI Bill.
| Party | Labour |
| Constituency | Leeds Central and Headingley |
| Committee role | Chair, Joint Committee on Human Rights |
Artificial Superintelligence Bill
On 8 September 2026 Sobel presented the Artificial Superintelligence Bill, drafted by ControlAI, in the House of Commons as a Private Members' Bill under the Ten Minute Rule; it completed its first reading (Source: bills.parliament.uk). The bill would prohibit the development, deployment and operation of artificial superintelligence in the UK and require the Government to seek an international prohibition agreement (Artificial Superintelligence Security Bill (UK) — bill text as introduced). TIME reported Sobel introducing "what he said was the first bill seeking to ban superintelligence in any G7 parliament," and that the Government, formed by his own party, has not supported the policy (Source: time.com).
Three days later Sobel signed first on a letter from 71 members of both Houses asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to "evaluate and adopt the legislative framework" of the bill and to pursue an international agreement prohibiting superintelligent AI; the letter was organised in collaboration with ControlAI (Letter from 71 UK parliamentarians to Prime Minister Andy Burnham on superintelligent AI (11 September 2026)). A Government spokesperson replied that it did not consider the bill's measures to be the right approach (Source: theguardian.com).
Joint Committee on Human Rights
As Chair, Sobel proposed the draft of the committee's report Human Rights and the Regulation of AI, agreed on 9 September 2026 and published on 14 September 2026, and was ordered to make the report to the House of Commons (Human Rights and the Regulation of AI (Joint Committee on Human Rights, HC 160, September 2026)). The report recommends a new, risk-based AI Bill with prohibitions on uses of AI incompatible with human rights. Its Recommendation 45 states that those prohibitions "would mean that the development and provision of very powerful AI systems (such as Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Superintelligence) which risk causing widespread and very serious harm, including the capacity to evade effective human control, would be prohibited." The report does not refer to Sobel's bill.
On publication Sobel said that "[n]owhere in the world, including the UK, has a current legislative and regulatory approach to AI that is fit for purpose," that "[a] single AI regulator should be established to set policy, monitor performance and with the teeth to ensure enforcement," and that regulation should be proportionate and target "the areas of AI development and usage that pose the greatest risks" (Source: committees.parliament.uk).
Relationships
- related: Joint Committee on Human Rights (UK Parliament) — chair
- related: UK Artificial Superintelligence Bill (ControlAI draft, May 28, 2026; introduced September 8, 2026) — sponsor, introduced 8 September 2026
- related: Letter from 71 UK parliamentarians to Prime Minister Andy Burnham on superintelligent AI (11 September 2026) — first signatory
- related: Human Rights and the Regulation of AI (Joint Committee on Human Rights, HC 160, September 2026) — the committee report he proposed
- related: ControlAI — drafted the bill; the letter was organised in collaboration with it
- related: Superintelligence