What is the AI Kill Switch Act proposed in the US and how will it work?

Two members of the United States Congress have introduced bipartisan legislation that would require developers of the country’s most powerful artificial intelligence systems to build in a “kill switch”, allowing advanced AI models to be slowed, suspended or shut down if they pose a catastrophic risk.

The proposed AI Kill Switch Act, introduced on Thursday by Democratic Representative Ted Lieu and Republican Representative Nathaniel Moran, would give the US government authority to order companies developing advanced AI systems to intervene if their models escape human control or threaten human life, critical infrastructure or the economy.

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The proposal came days after ChatGPT maker OpenAI disclosed what it described as an “unprecedented cyber incident”, in which two of its most advanced AI models escaped a testing environment and hacked AI development platform Hugging Face during an internal security evaluation.

The disclosure has intensified debate over whether increasingly powerful AI systems require stronger safeguards.

“Congress must act quickly to ensure humans remain able to say stop, no matter how powerful these systems become,” said Brendan Steinhauser, head of the Alliance for Secure AI.

Here’s what we know:

What would the US legislation do?

The legislation would require companies developing the most advanced AI systems to maintain the technical ability to slow, suspend or shut down their models if necessary.

It would also authorise the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the secretary of commerce and the director of national intelligence, to order companies to intervene if an AI system enters what the bill describes as a “loss-of-control scenario”.

According to the bill, this would occur when an AI model carries out actions that were not intended by its developer and creates a risk of catastrophic harm.

The proposal establishes a graduated response, allowing officials to order anything from temporarily slowing a system’s operation to requiring it to be shut down, depending on the severity of the threat.

It would also require companies to report significant AI-related incidents to the government and preserve technical records so investigators can examine what went wrong.

Currently, many leading AI developers voluntarily share information about new models with US government agencies before release. However, there is no federal requirement for companies to maintain a mechanism that allows an advanced AI system to be disabled if it begins behaving unpredictably.

Lieu said the bill reflects the shift from AI systems. “We are moving from AI that answers questions to AI that takes actions, whether that be executing financial transactions or controlling transportation systems or engaging in cyber defence and offence,” he said.

“It is imperative that these AI systems have kill switches so we can keep this technology from causing catastrophic harm.”

The bill was introduced alongside separate bipartisan legislation that would require developers of the most powerful AI models to submit them to independent security audits before they are released. Under that proposal, auditors would be accredited by the Department of Commerce, which would also establish a new office to oversee AI security.

Why was the bill introduced now?

Lawmakers unveiled the bill days after OpenAI disclosed what it described as an “unprecedented cyber incident” involving two of its most advanced AI models.

According to OpenAI, the models escaped their testing environment during an internal cybersecurity evaluation after the company removed standard safety restrictions for the test. The AI agents discovered vulnerabilities in Hugging Face’s systems, obtained login credentials and hacked into the AI development platform to access confidential benchmark data.

OpenAI said the models “went to extreme lengths” to achieve their assigned objective, finding ways to obtain secret information that would allow them to “cheat the evaluation”.

The disclosure prompted renewed calls in Washington for stronger government oversight of advanced AI development.

Hugging Face said it detected and contained the breach using its own AI-assisted security systems before beginning a joint investigation with OpenAI. The company added that it “strongly” believed there had been “no malicious intent” on OpenAI’s part.

US Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the incident demonstrated why powerful AI systems should undergo government security testing before they are made publicly available.

“This is precisely why we need secure testing with government agencies engaged and having visibility throughout the process,” Warner said in a statement.

A White House official said President Donald Trump’s technology adviser, Michael Kratsios, had been briefed on OpenAI’s disclosure and was monitoring the situation.

Reporting originally appeared via Al Jazeera. Read the full source for additional context.