Overview
- The Illinois Legislature approved Senate Bill 315, sending the measure to the governor after votes in both chambers, with the House passing it on Wednesday.
- The law would force so‑called frontier AI developers to submit to annual independent third‑party safety audits that verify whether labs meet their own safety commitments.
- SB 315 requires developers to report critical safety incidents to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the attorney general within 72 hours and to notify law enforcement if there is an imminent risk of death or serious injury.
- The bill also creates whistleblower protections and civil penalties for violations, drawing public support from firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic and criticism from trade groups that warn about liability, standards and effects on open‑source work.
- If signed into law and effective Jan. 1, 2027, the measure could become a de facto national baseline because large companies are likely to apply Illinois’ audit and reporting rules across their operations, and stakeholders must now develop audit standards and accredited evaluators.