Illinois lawmakers just passed the strongest AI safety bill in America

Illinois House The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would require leading AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind to get their own labs. Safety practices Audited by a third party. If signed into law, AI safety experts tell WIRED it would be groundbreaking in the country Validating the power of major AI companies.

The bill, SB 315, now heads to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk. In a mail On social media on Wednesday, Pritzker said he plans to sign the bill, citing the need to hold Big Tech accountable.

Since Congress has yet to pass any meaningful legislation on AI safety, state lawmakers have happily stepped up in recent years to promote bills that show their constituents that they are keeping Silicon Valley in check. With the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence tools, it has become… The companies behind them are racing toward massive initial public offeringsOpinion polls show that American voters do as well I’m looking for more AI regulation.

As a result, safety advocates and technology companies have focused on state legislatures as the main battleground for determining what these laws should look like. Head of Global Affairs at OpenAI, Chris Lehane, He told WIRED Last week, the company’s AI policy is now geared around passing a series of similar state laws.

California and New York currently have the strongest AI safety laws, which require technology companies to provide information about guardrail models and publish reports on safety incidents as they occur. The Illinois bill goes further, requiring independent auditors to verify that an AI lab is adhering to its safety standards. Previously, no independent body was required to keep an AI laboratory accountable for its safety claims.

“We’re in a situation where AI companies are evaluating their homework,” says Scott Weiser, policy director at the Secure AI Project, a nonprofit that supports SB 315. If SB 315 becomes law, Illinois will need an independent auditor to verify whether AI labs are in fact adhering to their safety obligations.

It is widely expected that, under SB 315, AI labs will be able to bring in the Big Four accounting and auditing firms — Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC — to review their safety practices, Weiser says. He also says it’s possible that AI labs could exploit group members Artificial Intelligence Evaluation Forum– A coalition of small research organizations including METR, Transluce and AVERI – to assess adherence to safety standards.

Illinois State Representative Daniel Dedeich, sponsor of SB 315, tells WIRED that state legislatures play an important role by shaping American AI policy and serving as a proving ground for any federal laws that may come in the future. “Laws like this create a world in which the federal government is more likely to pass something,” Deidich says.

Corporate interests

Illinois has emerged as a key arena in the ongoing fight over the state’s AI laws. Formerly OpenAI Supported the bill In Illinois, that would allow AI labs to evade liability if their models cause catastrophic harm. However, Lehane has since told the company The overall support for the bill was an oversightand never supported the liability shield in the bill. Most recently, OpenAI supported SB 315.

“The Illinois General Assembly has shown real bipartisan leadership in advancing SB 315 and developing a thoughtful framework for frontier AI safety. As AI systems become more capable, clear expectations around safety, transparency, incident reporting, and accountability are important,” Lehane says in a statement to WIRED.