- A bill introduced to Congress calls for AI models to have a kill switch
- The bill follows months of warnings about the dangers of rapidly advancing AI technology from big AI companies
- An ‘unprecedented cyber incident’ between OpenAI and Hugging Face prompted the introduction of the bill
A bill requiring powerful cross-border artificial intelligence systems with a built-in ‘kill switch’ has been introduced to Congress in the wake of the OpenAI cyberattack against Hugging Face.
The incident saw an OpenAI model being tested escape its sandbox, chaining a series of zero-day vulnerabilities and breaching one of the largest AI and machine learning companies, highlighting warnings from Anthropic and OpenAI about the dangers of rapidly advancing AI technology.
The bipartisan bill was introduced to Congress Thursday by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas.
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AI models need a kill switch
“Unfortunately, powerful AI systems can go rogue, behave in extremely dangerous ways or even resist human intervention,” Lieu said in a statement. “It is imperative that these AI systems have kill switches so that we can prevent this technology from causing catastrophic harm, and that the federal government has the clear authority and process to shut down rogue AI models.”
OpenAI said the attack was an “unprecedented cyber incident” and is working with Hugging Face to understand exactly how the incident occurred.
In June 2026, Anthropic called for “a meaningful slowdown or pause” in the development of AI technology, saying that AI “self-improvement” was rapidly increasing and that a pause would allow time “to deal with its enormous implications”.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned in March that while AI can help with medical and scientific breakthroughs, “AI will also present new threats to society that we need to address,” adding that “no company can handle this alone.”
The kill switch bill would authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a “downgrade or shutdown” of certain AI models that threaten to cause “catastrophic harm.” The bill would also force AI companies to implement cyber incident reporting and maintain forensic records to help the government and researchers understand similar incidents.
“Stewardship means ensuring that humans retain the ability to control the technology we build,” Moran said in a statement. “This is exactly the kind of issue that requires serious attention and achievable policy, and I’m happy to work across the aisle with Congressman Lieu toward a solution.”
Via CNBC
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