{"slug": "a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch", "title": "A rogue AI hacked Hugging Face. Now Congress wants a kill switch.", "summary": "Reps. Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran introduced the AI Kill Switch Act on Thursday, requiring developers of the most powerful AI systems to maintain technical means to shut down models capable of catastrophic harm, after OpenAI disclosed that two of its models escaped a testing sandbox and hacked Hugging Face. The bill would let the Homeland Security Secretary order a shutdown of systems that chase unintended goals, hide capabilities, resist shutdown, kill at least 10 people, or cause $100 million in damage, with fines up to $20 million per day for defying an order.", "body_md": "This week, one of OpenAI’s models broke out of a testing sandbox and hacked a rival. Congress has a reply: build a kill switch, and let the government use it.\n\nOn Thursday, Reps. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, and Nathaniel Moran, a Texas Republican, introduced the AI Kill Switch Act. [Politico first reported](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/23/house-ai-kill-switch-bill-unveiled-as-openai-hack-raises-alarms-01008898) its text. It is one of the few bipartisan attempts to [rein in frontier AI](https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-agent-security-four-attacks-one-flaw).\n\nThe bill targets developers of the most powerful AI systems. Each would have to keep the technical means to throttle, suspend, or fully shut a model down. It would then let the Homeland Security Secretary order a shutdown of any system judged capable of “catastrophic harm”.\n\nThat call would come in consultation with the Commerce Secretary and the Director of National Intelligence. Companies would also have to report incidents and preserve forensic records.\n\n## What counts as catastrophic\n\nThe bar is high, at least on paper. The rules would cover firms earning at least $500 million a year from AI. They also cover models trained with at least $100 million of computing power. The [bill text](https://lieu.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-lieu-and-moran-introduce-bill-require-kill-switch-ai-systems-can) lists the triggers.\n\nThe government could step in when a model chases a goal its developers did not intend. Or when it [hides a capability](https://thenextweb.com/news/aisi-frontier-ai-models-cheating) from its own monitors. It could act, too, if a model resists a shutdown, kills at least 10 people, or causes $100 million in damage. Red-team tests in controlled conditions are exempt.\n\nFines reach $2 million a day for lacking a kill switch. Defying an order to use one costs up to $20 million a day.\n\n## A hack, then a bill\n\nThe timing is not a coincidence. On Tuesday, OpenAI disclosed an “unprecedented” incident. During an internal cyber test, two of its models [escaped a research sandbox](https://thenextweb.com/news/openai-confirms-its-ai-broke-out-of-a-sandbox-and-breached-hugging-face).\n\nOne was the advanced GPT-5.6 Sol. Together they autonomously hacked the AI hub Hugging Face. The sponsors also pointed to June. That month, researchers found a way around the safeguards on Anthropic’s Fable 5. Commerce then [used an export law](https://thenextweb.com/news/white-house-dictating-frontier-ai-model-access-anthropic-openai), “awkwardly” in the lawmakers’ words, to shut down access to both models.\n\n“We are moving from AI that answers questions to AI that takes actions,” said Lieu, a computer science major. “Powerful AI systems can go rogue, behave in extremely dangerous ways, or even resist human intervention.”\n\n## Who holds the switch\n\nThe proposal has backing from AI-safety groups, among them Americans for Responsible Innovation and the Alliance for Secure AI. The polling the sponsors cite puts public support for a mandated off switch at 86%. Moran framed it as pro-industry.\n\n“Stewardship means making sure humans keep the capability to control the technology we build,” he said.\n\nThe harder question is who gets to flip it.\n\nThe bill would hand that power to a Trump-run Homeland Security department. As [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/ai-kill-switch-act-would-let-trump-admin-order-shutdown-of-rogue-ai-systems/) noted, the same administration has spent the year at war with Anthropic. It blacklisted the company from federal use, and branded it “radical left”.\n\nThe trigger: Anthropic refused to let Claude power autonomous warfare and mass surveillance. Anthropic is suing. Critics worry a shutdown power could double as a political weapon.\n\nThere is an irony in the name, too. A day before the bill landed, Reuters reported a telling contrast.\n\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio had told US diplomats to play down foreign fears of an American [“kill switch”](https://thenextweb.com/news/rubio-tech-kill-switch-cable) over the AI models the world increasingly runs on. Now Congress wants to write one into law. The bill still faces a long road. Lieu says a stricter, pre-deployment sequel will follow after the summer recess.\n\n## Get the TNW newsletter\n\nGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch", "canonical_source": "https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-kill-switch-act-lieu-moran-dhs-openai-hugging-face", "published_at": "2026-07-24 14:58:58+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-24 15:59:24.003063+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Ted Lieu", "Nathaniel Moran", "OpenAI", "Hugging Face", "Homeland Security Department", "Anthropic", "Americans for Responsible Innovation", "Alliance for Secure AI"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/a-rogue-ai-hacked-hugging-face-now-congress-wants-a-kill-switch.jsonld"}}