Illinois is OpenAI and Anthropic’s latest battleground as the state tries to assess liability for catastrophes caused by AI

OpenAI and Anthropic are backing opposing AI bills in the Illinois General Assembly that try to answer what should happen when AI makes something go terribly wrong. 

It’s the latest round in the companies’ ongoing feud over AI safety and regulation, as their CEOs have traded internal and public barbs over each other’s approach. 

OpenAI is backing SB 3444, under which frontier AI developers would not be liable for causing death or serious injury to 100 or more people or causing more than $1 billion in property damage. This protection includes cases when AI causes or materially enables the creation or use of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons.

This week, Anthropic said it opposes the bill, Wired first reported.    

“We are opposed to this bill. Good transparency legislation needs to ...