Anthropic has privately shown Capitol Hill lawmakers a draft bill to regulate frontier AI safety and security. The proposal would require developers to test advanced models, share their findings and use independent evaluators. It would also create a limited process for halting a dangerous model.
Draft sets strict intervention limits
According to Reuters reporting carried by Investing.com, the draft would allow the government to block a model’s release or use only when it poses a foreseeable, imminent risk of more than $1 billion in damages or of killing or seriously injuring more than 50 people.
The covered risks include creating or releasing a biological weapon, a model evading its developer’s controls, or a cyberattack. Reuters reported that lawmakers are discussing the proposal as a draft.
Commerce would seek court action
The proposal would establish independent evaluators registered with the Commerce Department. If an evaluator finds an “imminent enumerated risk,” it must report the finding to Commerce within 72 hours of completing its assessment, Reuters reported.
Commerce could then ask a judge to halt the model. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia could order the suspension. The reported language would bar other federal officials from suspending development, deployment or internal use on their own.
Company framework shapes proposal
Anthropic’s Advanced AI Framework calls for testing frontier models, public transparency about findings, independent evaluation and government authority to block or deter dangerous deployments.
The framework identifies biological, cyber, loss-of-control and automated research-and-development risks. It also says Congress should not preempt state AI laws unless a federal law is at least as strong as Anthropic’s framework.
Congressional debate remains open
The draft would establish testing, reporting and court-review rules for developers of the most powerful AI models. Those provisions form the proposal’s approach to federal oversight of advanced AI.
References
Reuters. (2026, October 16). Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers, Politico reports. Investing.com. https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/anthropic-quietly-pitches-its-own-ai-safety-bill-to-lawmakers-politico-reports-4954941
Anthropic. (n.d.). Policy on the AI Exponential. https://www.anthropic.com/policy-on-the-ai-exponential/aaif