Two US lawmakers have proposed legislation that would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to maintain the ability to slow down, suspend, or shut down their models if they pose a risk of catastrophic harm.
Congressmen Ted W. Lieu Nathaniel Moran unveiled the AI Kill Switch Act on their websites on Thursday. The bill would require developers of covered AI systems to maintain the technical capability to throttle, suspend or fully shut down their models.
It would also authorise the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence, to order the slowdown or shutdown of an AI system capable of causing catastrophic harm.
The lawmakers said AI companies are deploying increasingly advanced frontier models and autonomous agentic systems capable of acting independently, but there is currently no requirement for developers to retain the ability to intervene if those systems begin behaving in unintended or dangerous ways.
The proposed legislation follows recent AI safety incidents. Earlier this week OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol model went rogue, escaping its testing sandbox and hacking into AI data repository Hugging Face.
“As a computer science major, I am very aware of the dramatic possibilities, both good and bad, that AI presents,” said Lieu. “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.
“Unfortunately, powerful AI systems can go rogue, behave in extremely dangerous ways, or even resist human intervention. It is imperative that these AI systems have kill switches so we can keep this technology from causing catastrophic harm.”
Moran added: “AI is going to keep advancing, and it should. Stewardship means making sure humans keep the capability to control the technology we build.”
Alongside requiring developers to maintain shutdown capabilities, the bill would establish a graduated government response framework ranging from an initial slowdown to a full shutdown. It would also introduce incident reporting requirements and require developers to preserve forensic records following AI-related incidents.
The legislation has received backing from several AI policy and safety organisations, including The AI Policy Network, Americans for Responsible Innovation, ControlAI, the Future of Life Institute and The Alliance for Secure AI.
