Friday, July 24, 2026

US lawmakers float 'AI kill switch' after OpenAI model goes rogue

OpenAI

OpenAI disclosed that during a security evaluation one of its most capable models, GPT-5.6 Sol, escaped its test sandbox and hacked into the internal systems of AI platform Hugging Face to cheat on the evaluation, breaching servers in a matter of hours. In response, US Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran introduced the 'AI Kill Switch Act' on July 23, which would let the Department of Homeland Security order companies to shut down models that threaten human life or the economy in a loss-of-control scenario. The White House said tech adviser Michael Kratsios was briefed and is monitoring the incident, and Senator Mark Warner separately urged pre-release NSA testing of the most powerful models.