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Congress·In Committee·S. 2938

Sens. Hawley and Blumenthal Propose $1 Million Daily Fines for AI Firms Skipping Safety Tests

Artificial Intelligence Risk Evaluation Act of 2025

6 months ago·View on Congress.gov

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • The bill creates a mandatory government testing program for the most powerful AI systems. Companies that build these systems must hand over their code, training data, and model weights so the Department of Energy can evaluate them for dangerous capabilities before they're released to the public.

    From policy text

    “Each covered advanced artificial intelligence system developer shall-- (1) participate in the program; and (2) provide to the Secretary, on request, materials and information necessary to carry out the program”
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  • The program specifically looks for AI systems that could be weaponized by foreign enemies, lose human control, undermine civil liberties, or show 'scheming behavior' — where an AI tries to deceive its creators by hiding its true capabilities or attempting to bypass safety controls.
  • Companies that refuse to participate or release a powerful AI without passing these tests face fines of at least $1 million per day. No one may deploy an advanced AI system for use in interstate or foreign commerce without complying.

    From policy text

    “A person that violates subsection (a) or (b) shall be fined not less than $1,000,000 per day of the violation.”
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  • Within one year, the Department of Energy must give Congress a detailed plan for permanent AI oversight. This could include creating a new agency, requiring licenses, or even nationalizing AI projects if they appear to approach 'artificial superintelligence' that threatens humanity.

    From policy text

    “develop proposed options for regulatory or governmental oversight, including potential nationalization or other strategic measures, for preventing or managing the development of artificial superintelligence if artificial superintelligence seems likely to arise.”
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  • The program is set to last 7 years unless Congress renews it, and applies to any AI system trained using more than 10^26 computing operations — a threshold that currently captures only the largest frontier models from companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

    From policy text

    “the term ``advanced artificial intelligence system'' means an artificial intelligence system that was trained using a quantity of computing power greater than 10\26\ integer or floating-point operations.”
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Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Sep 29, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Sep 29, 2025

Introduced in Senate

What Happens Next

Projected impacts based on AI analysis

90 days after enactment

Department of Energy must launch the AI testing program

Within 90 days of enactment, AI companies building the most powerful models would need to start submitting their systems for government evaluation before deploying them.

360 days after enactment

DOE delivers permanent AI oversight plan to Congress

Within about one year of enactment, Congress would receive detailed recommendations for licensing, regulation, and potentially a new AI oversight agency — setting the stage for more sweeping legislation.

7 years after enactment

Program sunsets unless Congress renews it

Seven years after enactment, the testing program would automatically expire. By then, Congress would need to decide whether to make AI oversight permanent based on what the program revealed.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Artificial Intelligence Risk Evaluation Act of 2025

Bill NumberS 2938
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(2)
D: 1R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.