US representatives introduce the AI Kill Switch Act

Event Summary

Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran introduced a bill that would require covered AI developers to maintain the ability to throttle, suspend, or shut down covered systems. The bill has not been enacted.

Impact Assessment

• Paradigm Shift +1 · Medium-term

  The proposal places technical shutdown capability and incident records at the center of a federal frontier-AI policy debate.

  Affected Groups: frontier AI developers, federal regulators, AI safety researchers

Consensus & Sources

• 1
  Reps. Lieu and Moran introduce bill to require kill switch for AI systems that can cause catastrophic harm

  URL: https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can

  Reference Evidence Citation logged Live source
• 2
  AI Kill Switch Act bill text (PDF)

  URL: https://lieu.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/lieu-evo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/ai-kill-switch-act.pdf

  Reference Evidence Citation logged Live source
• 3
  Lawmakers propose AI Kill Switch Act

  URL: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/25/lawmakers-propose-ai-kill-switch-act/

  News Report Citation logged Live source
• 4
  'AI Kill Switch Act' won't stop rogue AI, but it will slow down innovation

  URL: https://reason.com/2026/07/27/ai-kill-switch-act-wont-stop-rogue-ai-but-it-will-slow-down-innovation/

  Reference Evidence Citation logged Live source