The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday, May 28, 2026, requiring frontier AI companies — including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind — to have their safety practices verified by independent auditors. Governor JB Pritzker announced on social media that he plans to sign the bill into law.
The legislation, SB 315, would make Illinois the first state to require an outside party to confirm that AI labs are actually following their own stated safety standards. California and New York currently have the strongest AI safety laws in the country, requiring companies to disclose model guardrails and report safety incidents — but neither mandates independent verification of compliance.
“We’re in a situation where the AI companies grade their own homework,” said Scott Wisor, policy director at Secure AI Project, a nonprofit supporting the bill. “Should SB 315 become law, Illinois would require an independent auditor to check whether the AI labs in fact adhere to their safety commitments.”
Under the bill, AI labs could potentially use major accounting firms such as Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, or members of the AI Evaluator Forum — a coalition of research organizations including METR, Transluce, and Averi — to conduct audits.
Illinois state representative Daniel Didech, a bill sponsor, said state legislatures are serving as a testing ground for future federal policy. “Laws like this create a world where it’s more likely for the federal government to pass something,” Didech told WIRED. OpenAI also endorsed the bill, with its chief of global affairs Chris Lehane citing the need for “clear expectations around safety, transparency, incident reporting, and accountability.”
The bill comes as Congress has yet to pass meaningful AI safety legislation, prompting state lawmakers to fill the gap. Polls cited in the source indicate American voters are calling for more AI regulation as the technology grows in popularity and major AI companies move toward large IPOs.
Source: WIRED