Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signs AI bill into law

CHICAGO (WLS) -- With the growing use of AI, Governor JB Pritzker said there is a need for transparency and accountability.

Monday, the governor signed a bill into law that sets a new standard for regulating leading AI companies.

The governor stood alongside Attorney General Kwame Raoul and state lawmakers.

Back in May, the Illinois legislature passed the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act.

It requires large AI companies to develop risk mitigation frameworks and yearly independent audits.

The governor said the law sets guardrails as this technology continues to develop and becomes even more popular.

"Ai is the most significant technological innovation and development of the modern age," Governor Pritzker said. "When managed properly, it can foster tremendous growth, productivity and innovation across the economy and vastly improve our quality of life. But with that transformative potential comes with catastrophic risk, much of which isn't fully understood yet."

"They have the potential for many good things, but due to their massive computing power, they also could be causing catastrophic events, such as cyberattacks, the creation or release of certain kinds of weapons or the potential of evading control of the developer or user amongst other possible threats," AG Raoul said.

The Illinois attorney general would have the authority to fine companies who violate the law, up to $1 million for the first violation and up to $3 million for additional violations.

Legislators modeled the law after 2025 laws in New York and California, hoping to further a national standard they say is lacking at the federal level.

The law is targeted towards the most capable models developed by the largest companies through its thresholds - $500 million in revenue and a massive computing measurement. OpenAI and Anthropic both supported the bill throughout its process and it passed the House 110-0.

The law would require developers to create and publish a transparency framework explaining how the company applies industry standards, measures model capabilities and chance of catastrophic risk, and identifies and responds to safety incidents.

Developers would also be required to employ third-party auditors to ensure compliance with the framework, a provision that is still a point of contention for some industry stakeholders, including TechNet, a coalition of tech executives across the industry.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, a nonpartisan news service covering state government, contributed to this report.