AI Kill-Switch Bill Defines Shutdown Authority

The proposed AI Kill Switch Act would require large AI developers to maintain throttling or shutdown capabilities and authorize federal orders when a qualifying system presents catastrophic harm. Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran announced the bipartisan proposal. The measure would amend the Homeland Security Act.

It applies revenue and computing thresholds to covered developers and systems. Orders could restrict a capability, block access or shut down an entire system. The sequence is stated as reported because later official or investigative records may refine the first public account.

Refusal could trigger fines of up to twenty million dollars per day. Covered scenarios include concealed capability, interference with shutdown and large death or economic-damage thresholds. The bill preserves an exception for controlled red-team tests that only simulate real conditions. Attributed claims are preserved as claims rather than treated as independent proof.

Commercial models can run across multiple clouds and integrate with downstream operators. Shutdown capability is different from legal authority to issue an order. Emergency action can preserve forensic evidence only if logging and custody rules are defined before an incident.

The available record also connects a verified development with its operating context. Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran announced the bipartisan proposal. Commercial models can run across multiple clouds and integrate with downstream operators.

A separate factual check preserves the distinction between the event and the explanation offered for it. The measure would amend the Homeland Security Act. Shutdown capability is different from legal authority to issue an order.

The reporting boundary remains material: The bill had not received committee action, and constitutional, classified-evidence and implementation questions remained open.

The next observable records are committee hearings, amendments and agency testimony and technical analysis of open-weight, distributed and third-party deployments.