🦔OpenAI is backing an Illinois state bill that would shield AI labs from liability in cases where their models cause mass casualties or lar…

🦔OpenAI is backing an Illinois state bill that would shield AI labs from liability in cases where their models cause mass casualties or large-scale financial disasters, defined as death or serious injury to 100 or more people or at least $1 billion in property damage. The bill would protect frontier AI developers as long as they didn't intentionally cause the harm and have published safety and transparency reports. OpenAI framed its support as promoting consistent national standards over a patchwork of state rules. A poll found 90% of Illinois residents oppose exempting AI companies from liability. Several families of children who died by suicide after developing relationships with ChatGPT have sued OpenAI in the past year. My Take Sam Altman published a 13-page blueprint last week calling for a new social contract to protect people from AI disruption. OpenAI is simultaneously lobbying to cap its own liability if its models contribute to mass casualties. Those two things are happening at the same time and I think it's important to say that plainly. The bill's logic is that AI labs shouldn't be held responsible for harms they didn't intentionally cause, as long as they published the right reports. What that actually means is that deploying a system capable of helping someone cause mass casualties, collecting revenue from it, and then pointing to a PDF on your website is sufficient due diligence. The families suing OpenAI over their children's suicides are already navigating what happens when real harm meets inadequate accountability. This bill would make that fight significantly harder for anyone affected by something far larger. Hedgie🤗

Source: Gary Marcus (X) | 2026-04-14

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