Rand Paul blocks Kennedy AI kill switch bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday blocked a request by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) to pass legislation that would require tech companies to develop a “kill switch” for superintelligent AI. Paul argued that an “open-ended” government mandate to implement kill switches could derail the rollout of AI across the economy and that the issue needs further study.

Kennedy had asked the Senate to pass his bill by unanimous consent, requiring companies to build an emergency shutoff into superintelligent designs so human operators could disable them if serious danger arises.

“What I would like to see us to do is to figure out a way to strike a balance between innovation and public safety,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor.

“There are risks to artificial intelligence,” he said. “And by AI I mean the advanced AI models.”

“AI is supposed to be a tool that the human beings have control of to make our lives better,” Kennedy added. “But what happens if the AI model through what’s called recursive self improvement … becomes an independent species, separate and apart from human beings that we can’t control because it’s an independent species and it doesn’t share our values?”

Kennedy’s bill would put companies, not the government, in charge of using the shutoff to stop a swiftly emerging superintelligent AI threat.

Concerns over the possibility that superintelligent computers could escape human control and pose a catastrophic threat to society have risen among lawmakers in recent days after a researcher for OpenAI and Anthropic warned that the tech giants are “gambling with our lives.”

When Kennedy sought unanimous consent, Paul objected.

“If Congress acts hastily before the technology is understood, Congress risks killing innovation and setting this technology back decades,” Paul said.

“Think, for example, that your search engine that you already use today is AI,” he said. “Are they going to have to redesign all search engines immediately if this passes and put kill switches in your search engine?”

“AI is going to be throughout the economy and so many facets,” Paul added. “Are doctors going to have to build a kill switch into drug prescription analysis?”

Paul asked to amend the proposal to establish a bipartisan committee to study the threat posed by superintelligent AI and explore ways to stop any imminent threat to humanity.

Kennedy objected to that modification.

“A committee is a way to kill this,” he said. “Don’t appoint a committee. That’s the weenie way out.”

Kennedy declared he would rather be forced to listen to “OJ jokes for the rest of eternity” than set up another special committee to study the issue.

After Kennedy refused to modify his request, Paul objected to it.