Illinois Legislature passes historic AI bill

Artificial intelligenceIllinois Legislature passes historic AI billThe measure, SB315, goes beyond legislation from California and New York regulating America’s largest AI companies. It still needs the governor’s signature.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00The Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield, Ill.AaronP / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 27, 2026, 5:50 PM EDTBy Jared PerloIllinois’ House of Representatives passed a landmark bill Wednesday that would set a new standard for regulating America’s leading AI companies if signed by Gov. JB Pritzker. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The bill mirrors existing provisions in legislation from California and New York requiring frontier AI companies to create, publish and annually update a plan to address severe or catastrophic risks from their AI models. It also mandates annual independent third-party audits of these AI companies on safety issues, which is not included in any existing AI legislation in the U.S. “Artificial intelligence technology is among the most significant innovations, in my opinion, in the history of humanity,” said Rep. Daniel Didech, the sponsor of the bill in the Illinois House. “It’ll make people healthier, it’ll improve quality of life, it’ll increase productivity. But the flip side of that is these tools are so powerful that there’s also some potential risk,” he told NBC News several minutes before the bill came to a vote Wednesday afternoon. The bill, Illinois SB315, passed the House 110-0. The state Senate passed it on Friday. The Legislature now has 30 days to send it to Pritzker for his consideration.“This piece of legislation is designed to put up some guardrails and make sure we have some safeguards in place to protect against some of the worst catastrophic risks,” Didech said.Beyond requiring independent third-party audits and public safety plans, the...