Anthropic wants Congress to set strict limits on when federal authorities can stop advanced AI models from reaching users. A confidential draft bill obtained by POLITICO would tie government intervention to specific catastrophic threats and require judicial approval for suspensions.

The proposal would give frontier AI developers a clearer legal framework while restricting the circumstances that could trigger government action. It also raises questions about how much oversight regulators should exercise over increasingly capable systems.

Under the proposal, federal authorities could seek to halt a model only when it presents a foreseeable, imminent threat. Qualifying risks must involve more than $1 billion in damages or the deaths or serious injuries of over 50 people.

The bill limits those threats to three scenarios. These include creating or releasing biological weapons, models escaping their developers’ controls, or cyberattacks. Other forms of harm would fall outside this specific intervention framework.

Anthropic says the legislation reflects its Advanced AI Framework, which it has promoted among federal and state lawmakers since June. “These are sensible policies we believe Congress should act on,” an Anthropic spokesperson reportedly said.

Independent evaluators would oversee compliance. They would register with the Commerce Department and periodically assess frontier AI developers and their models. Evaluators could receive payment from the companies they inspect, provided their compensation does not depend on their findings.

If an assessment identifies an imminent threat covered by the bill, evaluators must notify Commerce within 72 hours of completing their review.

The proposal would prevent the Commerce Department from independently shutting down a model.

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