Anthropic Lobbies US Congress for AI Safety Bill Draft Proposing $1 Billion Loss or 50 Casualties as Intervention Thresholds

According to Reuters, artificial intelligence company Anthropic recently privately pitched a draft bill to members of the US Congress aimed at regulating safety measures for frontier AI models. The core of the proposal lies in setting explicit quantitative thresholds: the government would only be permitted to block the release or use of an AI model if it poses a foreseeable and imminent risk capable of causing over $1 billion in losses, or resulting in the death or serious injury of more than 50 people.

Beyond the numerical red lines for economic loss and human casualties, the draft restricts the specific sources of such risks: they must stem from the manufacture or release of biological weapons, AI models evading developer controls, or cyberattacks. An Anthropic spokesperson stated that the bill reflects recommendations from the company's "Advanced AI Framework" published earlier this year, aiming to grant the government the "ability to stop or contain dangerous deployments of the most powerful models."

Regarding procedural mechanisms, the draft requires developers to test frontier AI models, disclose results, and undergo independent evaluation. Independent assessment bodies must register with the US Department of Commerce and periodically evaluate AI labs and their models. While AI labs may pay these bodies, compensation cannot be tied to evaluation outcomes to ensure independence. If an assessment body determines a model presents the imminent risks listed in the bill, it must notify the Department of Commerce within 72 hours of completing the evaluation.

Once the US Department of Commerce identifies a model as risky, it can petition a judge to order a suspension of the model. The draft explicitly prohibits other US government departments, agencies, or officials from ordering suspensions of development, deployment, or internal use, centralizing intervention power through judicial review. Politico reported that judges in the US District Court for the District of Columbia would hold the authority to issue such suspension orders.