{"slug": "pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation", "title": "Pritzker establishes AI cabinet in Illinois amid calls for greater regulation", "summary": "Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order on Tuesday establishing an AI Cabinet of experts and state agency representatives to formulate AI policy proposals through 2027, including tying data center incentives to safety, accountability and transparency standards. The move follows Pritzker's July signing of Senate Bill 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act, which imposes transparency and reporting requirements on AI models generating more than $500 million in annual revenue and makes Illinois the first state to require annual AI audits, effective 2028. Pritzker has also urged Congress to hold hearings on AI safety and impose national standards, saying the technology \"is dangerous on the level of nuclear weapons.", "body_md": "# Pritzker establishes AI cabinet in Illinois amid calls for greater regulation\n\n## Gov. JB Pritzker is establishing a new AI Cabinet to explore regulations for artificial intelligence in Illinois\n\n- Bookmark\n\n# Become an Independent member to bookmark this article\n\nWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.\n\n[Join today](https://www.independent.co.uk/subscribe?regSourceMethod=Bookmarks)\n\n      Already a member?\n      [Log in](#)\n\nGov. JB Pritzker is setting up a new group within state government to explore more regulations for artificial intelligence as calls grow across the country for new restrictions.\n\nPritzker signed an executive order on Tuesday to establish an AI Cabinet made up of experts and representatives from several state agencies. The unpaid group, which will formulate policy proposals through 2027, will analyze and assess “the various risks posed by AI to the safety of [Illinois](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/illinois) residents and the critical infrastructure residents rely on.”\n\nIt’s the latest move by Illinois to tackle state-focused AI regulation as the federal government continues to take a hands-off approach, even as industry insiders sound the alarm on the technology’s capabilities.\n\nA former [Anthropic](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/anthropic) and [OpenAI](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/openai) researcher alleged in an explosive social media post earlier this month that AI companies are building a tool that could become “out of control” and pose a threat to human existence by 2030.\n\n“Artificial Intelligence has enormous potential to transform our everyday lives, but when experts and industry leaders sound the alarm bell, urge us to slow down, and ask for guardrails, we should listen,” Pritzker said in a statement.\n\nThe cabinet will formulate policies and procedures to protect Illinois residents and public assets like water systems, education and information systems from threats posed by AI. It will also analyze “emerging AI incidents and share lessons learned” from them.\n\nThe advisory group will also make policy recommendations on risk management and assess the feasibility, timeframe and any other challenges for implementing them.\n\nThe cabinet will consider regulations tying data center incentives or operational approval to a company’s ability to meet safety, accountability and transparency standards. It will also look into addressing strain on the energy grid from data centers, evaluating how state procurement and contracting practices can incorporate AI safety and accountability measures, and assessing if existing legal options are good enough to hold AI companies that cause harm accountable.\n\nLegislative action\n\nIllinois lawmakers have already taken steps to regulate AI.\n\nPritzker signed Senate Bill 315 in July, also known as the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act, which increases transparency and accountability requirements for the largest artificial intelligence models — those that generate more than $500 million in annual revenue and are trained using massive computing power. It establishes new reporting standards for the possibility that the AI model could be used for large-scale harm, such as by helping create a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon or committing cyber-attacks.\n\nIt also made Illinois the first state to require annual audits of AI. The law takes effect in 2028.\n\nSince the whistleblower came forward earlier this month, Pritzker has been aggressively calling on [Congress](https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/congress) to step in.\n\n“It should be among the top priorities, but don’t misunderstand, it is dangerous and it’s dangerous on the level of nuclear weapons,” Pritzker said on ABC’s Sunday morning news show. “So that’s why it needs to be an international endeavor.\n\nPritzker has urged Congress to immediately begin holding hearings on AI safety and impose national standards.\n\n___\n\nThis story was originally published by Capitol News Illinois and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/illinois-abc-openai-anthropic-congress-b3055342.html", "published_at": "2026-09-23 19:57:32+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-23 20:28:24.684894+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-safety", "large-language-models"], "entities": ["JB Pritzker", "Illinois", "Anthropic", "OpenAI", "Congress", "Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act", "Senate Bill 315", "Capitol News Illinois"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pritzker-establishes-ai-cabinet-in-illinois-amid-calls-for-greater-regulation.jsonld"}}