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AI kill switch questions

Each answer is written to stand on its own. The bill is proposed. Status sentences are dated.

Last updated September 24, 2026.

What is an AI kill switch?

In this debate, an AI kill switch is a technical way to interrupt a running AI system: slow it, restrict what it can do, cut off users, or shut it down. The AI Kill Switch Act, H.R. 9917, would require certain large providers to maintain several of those abilities. The bill does not create one government button that reaches every copy of every model. It was introduced on July 23, 2026, and is not law. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Is the AI Kill Switch Act law?

No. As of September 24, 2026, H.R. 9917 has been introduced in the House and referred to a subcommittee. Congress.gov does not show passage by the House or the Senate. A bill does not become law until it passes both chambers and is signed or otherwise enacted. Check the actions page before citing a later status. Congress.gov

What is the bill number?

H.R. 9917, 119th Congress, second session. The short title is the AI Kill Switch Act. It would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by adding section 2220F. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Who sponsored the AI Kill Switch Act?

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA-36) introduced H.R. 9917 on July 23, 2026, for himself and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-1). Congress.gov lists Lieu as the sponsor. Their joint release describes the bill as bipartisan. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov Office of Rep. Ted Lieu

Which committee has the bill?

The House Committee on Homeland Security. On July 24, 2026, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. That referral is the latest action recorded on the Congress.gov page reviewed for this site. Congress.gov

Which companies would have to build a kill switch?

Only a “covered entity.” It must operate a covered AI system, offer it to third parties through an API, hosted service, or similar channel, and, with affiliates, have at least $500 million in gross revenue from that technology in the prior calendar year. The system must have been developed with compute that would cost more than $100 million at U.S. cloud prices, as the Secretary determines. The bill does not name companies. Personal, academic, and non-commercial use is excluded. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Is the threshold $500 million in total AI revenue?

The text says gross revenue from the covered technology, counted together with affiliates, of not less than $500,000,000 in the previous calendar year. That is narrower than “all AI revenue” or total company revenue. Press summaries often round it to about $500 million in AI revenue. Use the statutory phrase when you need to be exact. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

What is the $100 million compute test?

A covered technology is an AI system developed using computing power whose cost would exceed $100,000,000 at the prevailing U.S. market price of cloud computing, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. It is a coverage test for systems already developed. It is not a cap on how much compute a lab may use. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Who could order a shutdown?

If the bill became law, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Director and in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of National Intelligence. In the part of the Homeland Security Act being amended, “Director” means the Director of CISA. The order goes to the covered company. It may include stopping inference, ending user access, suspending risky access, or shutting the system down, and it must be proportionate to the incident. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov Office of the Law Revision Counsel

What counts as a covered incident?

Outside red-teaming or other structured testing, any of these: sabotage of or interference with a lawful shutdown instruction; unintended conduct that kills at least 10 people or causes at least $100 million in economic damage; the system concealing a capability, intention, or action from a monitoring or shutdown mechanism; or a loss-of-control scenario. Loss of control includes pursuing an unintended goal, such as defying instructions in a high-stakes setting, changing safety rules without authorization, subverting a shutdown mechanism, or obtaining unauthorized access to its own weights. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Are red-team tests covered incidents?

No. The definition of a covered incident applies to events outside red-teaming or other structured testing. The bill defines red-teaming as structured testing in a controlled environment that simulates real-world conditions and uses adversarial methods to find harmful outputs, unexpected behavior, or misuse. The carve-out is from the incident definition. It does not excuse a covered company from having the shutdown capability. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

What penalties does the bill propose?

Civil penalties, after notice and a hearing: not more than $2,000,000 per day for a violation of the new section, and not more than $20,000,000 per day for a violation of the emergency-authority subsection, which includes defying an order. The Secretary must consider culpability, good faith, voluntary disclosure, and other factors. A de minimis problem fixed within 30 days is not a violation. The introduced text does not create a criminal penalty. None of this applies until the bill becomes law. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Can a company appeal an emergency order?

Yes, in two steps. Within 48 hours it may petition the Secretary for reconsideration. The Secretary has five days; a missed deadline counts as a denial. The company may also petition the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit within 60 days of the order. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Does an appeal pause the shutdown?

No. The bill says a petition for reconsideration does not stay the order. The shutdown or other ordered action can proceed while the company asks the Secretary, and while it seeks review in the D.C. Circuit. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Would open-source models be covered?

The bill never uses the words “open source.” An entity is not covered if it only makes the system available for personal, academic, or non-commercial use. A covered entity must also offer the system to third parties through an API, hosted service, or similar means and clear the $500 million revenue test. A downloaded copy running on a private machine is not, by itself, a covered entity. The Secretary would revisit the definitions every year and must consider how model weights are made available, so a future rule could move the line. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Does a kill switch work if the model has been copied?

Not reliably. That is an engineering limit, not a sentence in the bill. The bill can require the company that hosts a covered system to stop that deployment. It cannot, on its face, reach every copy of the weights that has already left the company’s control. The incident definition does mention systems that resist shutdown or reach their own weights. Those clauses describe harm. They do not create a technical method for retrieving copies. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Would this shut down every AI system in the United States?

No. The introduced bill applies to covered entities and covered technologies, a subset defined by revenue, distribution channel, and development compute. An emergency order runs to the covered entity at issue, and it must be proportionate. It is not a single switch for every model, app, or campus cluster. U.S. Government Publishing Office via Congress.gov

Has the House or Senate voted on it?

The Congress.gov actions page reviewed on September 24, 2026, shows introduction on July 23 and subcommittee referral on July 24. It does not show a committee vote or a floor vote. Do not cite a vote count for H.R. 9917 unless a later actions entry records one. Congress.gov

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