U.S. Lawmakers and States Push Emergency 'Kill Switches' for Frontier AI, Despite Deep Technical Doubts

As autonomous AI systems gain ability to execute actions across critical infrastructure, policymakers are mandating emergency shutdown mechanisms, but experts warn the engineering challenge may be insurmountable. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on September 18 directing state officials to develop independent verification standards for an AI "kill switch"—a real-time mechanism to halt frontier models in the event of catastrophic harm. The same week, a bipartisan bill in Congress proposed granting the Department of Homeland Security authority to order AI system shutdowns when models pose catastrophic risks, requiring developers to maintain technical capability to throttle, suspend, or fully disable their systems.