Illinois House Representatives passed legislation Wednesday requiring pioneering artificial intelligence labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind to submit their security practices to a third-party audit. Artificial intelligence security experts tell WIRED that if implemented, it would be a nation-leading power check on major artificial intelligence companies.
Bill SB 315 now heads to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk. In post on social media Wednesday, Pritzker said he planned to sign the bill, citing the need to hold Gigantic Tech accountable.
Because Congress has yet to pass any significant AI security legislation, state lawmakers have happily stepped up their efforts in recent years to promote bills that show their constituents they control Silicon Valley. As AI tools become more popular and the companies behind them head toward massive IPOs, polls show that American voters are I am looking for further regulation of artificial intelligence.
California and Recent York have the strictest regulations on AI security, requiring tech companies to provide information about handrail models and publish reports on security incidents as they occur. The Illinois bill goes a step further and requires independent auditors to verify that an AI lab is adhering to its own safety standards. Previously, no independent body was required to hold an AI lab accountable for its own safety statements.
“We are in a situation where AI companies are assessing their homework,” says Scott Wisor, policy director at the Secure AI Project, a nonprofit supporting SB 315. “If SB 315 were to become law, the state of Illinois would require an independent auditor to verify that AI labs are actually complying with their security obligations.”
Wisor says it is widely expected that under SB 315, AI labs will be able to exploit the Gigantic Four accounting and auditing firms – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – to audit their security practices. He also says it’s possible that artificial intelligence labs could exploit members of the so-called AI evaluators forum—a coalition of smaller research organizations including METR, Transluce and Averi — to assess compliance with safety standards.
Illinois Rep. Daniel Didech, sponsor of SB 315, tells WIRED that state legislatures play an critical role in shaping U.S. AI policy and serving as a testing ground for any federal legislation that may be introduced in the future. “Laws like this create a world where the federal government is more likely to pass something,” Didech says.
Corporate Interests
Illinois has become a major arena in the ongoing fight over state artificial intelligence laws. OpenAI previously supported a bill in Illinois that would allow AI labs to avoid liability if their models caused catastrophic damage. However, Lehane has since stated that the company’s overall support for the bill was an oversight and that it never supported the bill’s liability shield. OpenAI recently approved SB 315.
“The Illinois General Assembly has demonstrated true bipartisan leadership in advancing SB 315 and developing a thoughtful framework for border AI security. As AI systems become more capable, expectations for security, transparency, incident reporting and accountability are clear,” Lehane said in a statement to WIRED.