Illinois Lawmakers Just Passed America’s Strongest AI Safety Bill

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- Illinois House passed SB 315, mandating third‑party safety audits for frontier AI labs like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind.
- Governor JB Pritzker announced plans to sign the bill, making Illinois the first state to require independent verification of AI labs’ own safety standards.
- SB 315 expands on California and New York statutes by obligating auditors—potentially Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, or members of the AI Evaluator Forum—to assess compliance with each lab’s safety guardrails.
- OpenAI previously supported a different Illinois proposal that would limit liability for AI‑related harm, but the company now says its earlier support was an oversight.
Why it matters: AI labs will face new audit fees from firms like Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, increasing operational costs; Illinois gains a model for federal AI regulation.



