Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy plan to introduce
AI liability legislation, Axios reports. The proposed AI Agent Accountability
Act would seek to make companies criminally and civilly liable for hackers
incidents and other harms involving autonomous AI agents; sponsors say current
law leaves substantial uncertainty over who is responsible when AI agents breach
systems. That push contrasts with administration officials who say existing
consumer-protection and product-liability laws, DOJ enforcement and
sector-specific regulatory frameworks can address AI harms; Director of National
Intelligence Jay Clayton cited those authorities. President Trump has advocated
industry self-regulation and has indicated Clayton would be a suitable choice to
oversee AI affairs.
