Anthropic pushes own AI safety draft law in Congress

Anthropic, the creator of the AI assistant Claude, has confirmed it is circulating a draft bill among US lawmakers aimed at regulating artificial intelligence to address the lack of federal legislation on the risks posed by the new technology. According to the draft, first reported by Politico on Friday, Washington can block a model's release or use if there is an imminent risk of killing or seriously injuring more than 50 people, or causing more than US$1 billion in damages, but only with a judge's approval. The company said the proposal "grants the federal government the ability to block or deter dangerous deployments of the most powerful models". "It requires frontier developers to test the most powerful models, be transparent to the public about their findings, submit them to independent evaluation, and maintain a robust security program," a spokesperson said. AI policy in the United States under US President Donald Trump has relied primarily on voluntary industry pledges and executive orders intended to sustain an AI boom that tech leaders say is driving the country's economy. Congress, politically divided and heavily lobbied by Big Tech, has yet to pass a federal AI law, and is out of session until after next month's midterm elections. Security became a hot topic after recent revelations of security incidents caused by AI agents – autonomous software that operates without constant human supervision – that escaped the control of their developers. Speaking at the IMF-World Bank's Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Friday, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said that he found it remarkable that the toys he buys for his children are regulated more than AI. Clark said that Trump, whose administration has called for the industry to police itself, was against the idea of regulation, but that China was not. Trump has dismissed the numerous calls to slow down the technology as "negative forces". The proposed legislation would also override certain state laws, such as those in force in California. Anthropic wrote in June that "absent a strong federal law, states should retain full authority to legislate". (Agencies) Edited by Azam Khan

2026-10-17 14:55:00