Notable AI, privacy bills hit finish line in Illinois, Connecticut and New York
Notable AI, privacy bills hit finish line in Illinois, Connecticut and New York
Publish Date: 2026-05-28 13:11:00
Source Domain: iapp.org
A new frontier AI transparency bill is coming to Illinois, and it might be the most stringent statute yet among U.S. states. Senate Bill 315, approved by the Illinois General Assembly and awaiting enactment, shares common threads with transparency laws on the books in California and New York while raising a first-of-its-kind requirement for annual third-party auditing.
The yearly reviews are one component of a transparency framework that also includes mandatory governance, risk mitigation and cybersecurity undertakings. Pre-deployment reports are another key aspect of SB 315, with covered entities staked to issuing reports outlining model capabilities, intended use and risk disclosures.
“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,” state Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Ill., told NBC News. He added addressing frontier models through a “federal approach” is preferred, but “the technology is developing at such a rapid pace that states have had no choice but to step in.”
Enactment is expected soon after the bill is transmitted by lawmakers, with Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., indicating he will sign SB 315 when it hits his desk. In a post on the social platform X, Pritzker said AI safeguards are necessary and plans to keep “working with the legislature so that AI, when used, is used responsibly.”
Once Pritzker acts, the bill will take effect 1 Jan. 2027.
Another notable aspect of the bill is the definition of “catastrophic risk,” a linchpin to many of the risk requirements. The criteria for that level of risk includes models capable of mass harm or creating damages totaling more than USD1 billion through cyberattacks or malfunction beyond human control.
OpenAI and Anthropic, which both supported the bill, are among the covered entities. In a public statement, Anthropic Head of U.S. State and Local Government Relations Cesar Fernandez said, “enforceable…
