Anthropic pitches a frontier AI safety bill to US lawmakers, Politico reports

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude models, has handed US lawmakers a confidential draft of a federal bill on frontier AI safety and security, according to Politico. Politico reported the draft on October 16, 2026. The proposal would give the federal government limited authority to step in on the deployment of highly advanced AI models. That power would apply only when a model poses a foreseeable, imminent catastrophic risk. What the draft bill would do The draft sets out strict thresholds for when Washington could act. Intervention would be allowed where potential damages exceed $1 billion, or where AI use could cause the deaths or serious injuries of more than 50 people. The bill ties those thresholds to three specific danger zones. These are biological weapons, a developer losing control of its own model, and cyberattacks. Testing is the second pillar. The draft calls for independent testing, more transparency, and ongoing evaluation of advanced models. Those independent evaluators would need to register with the Commerce Department. They would conduct regular assessments, and they could not be paid based on outcomes. Under the proposal, emergent risks would have to be repo...