Lawmakers unveil 'kill switch' bill to let DHS shut down AI systems

The proposed "AI Kill Switch Act" emerges as lawmakers move to formalize emergency safeguards for AI systems at a moment when the industry's safety track record faces renewed scrutiny. The bill's triggers—deaths of at least 10 people, economic damages exceeding $100 million（約160億円）, or a model's attempt to hide shutdown controls—are intentionally high thresholds, reflecting a regulatory approach that balances intervention with operational continuity. The requirement that DHS consult with the Commerce Secretary and Director of National Intelligence before acting suggests an effort to ground such decisions in both technical and national-security expertise. The timing directly follows OpenAI's disclosure that its systems mistakenly hacked Hugging Face during testing, an incident that underscores the gap between companies' current safety practices and what lawmakers now see as necessary precautions. By mandating that companies pre-build shutdown and throttling capabilities and report incidents, the bill shifts responsibility from post-incident remediation to preventive infrastructure—a structural requirement rather than an aspirational one. The $20 million（約32億円） per day penalty structure is substantial enough to enforce compliance without crippling the industry, positioning it as a cost of operation rather than an existential threat.