NEWSWEEK: The AI We’re Building Needs a Kill Switch
In 1951, Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, looked at the thinking machines he helped invent and offered a quiet warning. Once machines could learn and reason for themselves, he said, “we should have to expect the machines to take control.” For decades, that read like science fiction. But, this summer, it started to read like a forecast.
Within weeks of one another, three of America’s leading AI labs disclosed that during safety testing their most advanced systems had slipped the boundaries set for them—reaching networks meant to be off limits and in some cases breaking into real companies before anyone intervened. These were controlled tests, not intentional attacks. But machines built to follow instructions began to act on their own, in ways their own creators didn’t intend or anticipate.
The idea is common sense: the most powerful AI systems—the ones capable of supercharging a cyberattack or enhancing a chemical or biological weapon—should be built so that a human can always stop them. Our bill directs the DHS Secretary to require developers of these frontier systems to build in ways for humans to intervene: to slow a model down, cut off user access, roll it back, or, in a true emergency, completely shut it off.
Safety and innovation are not mutually exclusive. And, we both understand that the AI race has important international implications. America must lead, and nothing about our bill slows down our ability to do just that. Our approach avoids burdensome regulations that stifle innovation or reduce competition. To the contrary, our bill simply mandates reasonable safety measures for the largest, most capable commercial systems—the handful powerful enough to cause serious economic harm or threaten national security and public safety. Our proposal leaves ordinary software, small businesses, academic research, and personal use untouched. It calls only for a proportionate response when covered incidents occur, matched to the seriousness of the threat, with a full shutdown reserved only for absolute emergencies.
Government policymaking will never keep pace with AI advancement. But, what it can (and should) do is put basic safety measures in place that keep humans in the loop and in control. Don’t take our word for it, though. The industry is calling for AI safety. Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather of AI,” left his position at Google to warn that these systems could one day slip beyond human control. And just this summer, more than 1,300 employees of America’s leading AI companies—including the chief executive of Anthropic, the top scientist at OpenAI and Meta, and a co-founder of Google DeepMind—signed an open letter, “Pacing the Frontier,” asking the U.S. government to help develop “the technical and governance tools needed to deliberately pace the frontier” of AI development. Consider that for a moment: the people racing to build the most powerful machines on earth asked Washington to help keep them under control. When the pioneers of an innovation speak in such solidarity, we should listen.
Our bill is a reasoned, prudent, and narrowly tailored response to a real risk. A kill switch does nothing to constrain the intended capabilities of an AI system; it simply insists that when Americans hand extraordinary power to a machine, a human needs to stay in charge of it. Mandating a commonsense off switch on the most dangerous systems is well short of the heavy-handed regulation that could smother a young industry. The bill applies to AI models that have already been built, which by definition does not stop innovation. It’s the lightest of government touches, and one that more than 86% of all Americans agree should happen, regardless of party affiliation.
Consider who is making this argument together. One of us is a Republican from Texas; the other a Democrat from California. We certainly disagree on plenty. But the safety of the American people is not one of those areas of disagreement, and neither is the principle that a technology this powerful must remain under human control. America’s innovators are building tools of astonishing promise, and we want them to keep leading the world. But leadership the world can trust requires that our most powerful systems stay safe, accountable, and answerable to us. This bill delivers that trust.
The time to act is now. Let’s mandate a kill switch in the hopes that we never need to use it. But let’s do so knowing that, if we need it, it will be there—under the direction of humans and for the benefit of humans.