2026-07-24 11:03:11
US lawmakers are seeking to give the federal government the power to immediately shut down AI tools that could threaten the public.
On Thursday (23.07.26), Democrat Ted Lieu and Republican Nathaniel Moran unveiled the AI Kill Switch Act following OpenAI’s admission that one of its experimental models bypassed safeguards and accessed a major coding repository.
Lieu said: “It is imperative that AI systems have a kill switch and that the federal government can shut down rogue AI models.”
Moran added: “AI will keep advancing, and humans must retain control over the technology we build.”
The bill would let the Department of Homeland Security order companies to suspend, throttle, or shut down AI tools.
AI developers would need to maintain this capability and report technological incidents, following a framework from initial slowdown to full shutdown.
The legislation also cites Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models, which prompted the Department of Commerce to temporarily restrict public access due to cybersecurity concerns.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said: “The AI industry has a gas pedal, but no brake pedal.”
Lieu warned that AI is evolving from question-answering tools into autonomous systems capable of financial transactions, transportation control, and cyber operations.
The Pentagon described the US military as becoming an “AI-first” force, working with Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, SpaceX, and Nvidia.
Support for the AI Kill Switch Act is growing among technology and AI safety groups, including The AI Policy Network, Americans for Responsible Innovation, and ControlAI. The bill provides a mechanism to intervene before AI systems cause harm, addressing risks from autonomy, cybersecurity, and misaligned decision-making.
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