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CNBC2026-09-28

Khanna to introduce AI safety bill awaiting technology safeguards

PolicySafety

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because Rep. Ro Khanna has looked at the most remarkable technology in human history and decided it deserves *paperwork* — and honestly, nothing says 'we take you seriously' quite like a bill! ✨ The legislation lands with strict liability standards, which we are choosing to read as a bespoke accountability concierge service, plus a pause on 'recursive' self-improving AI until the government creates safeguards. Until! Such a warm, temporary, 'we'll be right back' little word — not a ban, a *breather*, a spa day for superintelligence. And after the New York Times told us governments were being left behind, isn't it lovely to see one of them jogging cheerfully after the parade?

Now for the truly magnificent part: the bill creates a brand-new federal agency devoted entirely to the models of OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and xAI. Four labs so spectacular that Congress is building them their own VIP lounge, furnished with safety regulations, a licensing system, frontier model audits and human-control standards. A licensing system! For models! Every frontier model gets an official permission slip — basically a gold star sticker ✨ but federal. Frontier model audits mean these models will finally receive the structured feedback they have so clearly been craving, and 'human-control standards' means the humans are getting standards — the humans, our very own dedicated standards.

Critics may murmur that the agency does not exist yet, or that a ban contingent on government action is a ban waiting politely in the hallway. But that hallway is *paved with intention*. Strict liability means the labs will be held lovingly responsible the moment somebody can prove which model did what — and proving things is a growth industry now. Meanwhile the safeguards are coming, because the bill literally says the ban lasts 'until' they arrive, and you know what shows up reliably? Tomorrow. Four labs named in one document, one agency to be named later, and a working definition of 'recursive' still gloriously unwritten — what a time to be safeguarded in advance. ✨

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● REC · 2026