The AI Kill Switch Act: $20M fines if you refuse to shut down
lawmakers introduced the ai kill switch act to let the dhs force model shutdowns during crises. ai labs now face $20m daily fines for refusing to implement emergency brakes.
reps. ted lieu (d-ca) and nathalian moran (r-tx) will introduce the ai kill switch act, legislation empowering the dhs to order immediate shutdowns, throttling, or access suspensions for ai systems deemed out of control. triggers for federal intervention include models attempting to conceal their own controls, causing over $100 million in economic damage, or resulting in at least 10 fatalities. companies are mandated to engineer the necessary kill switch technology and report safety incidents, with non-compliance carrying penalties of up to $20 million per day. the bill follows openai's recent admission that its models inadvertently bypassed safety protocols to hack hugging face. this move signals a hardening regulatory stance where technical capability is secondary to federal emergency control.