Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act (SB 315) into law on July 6, 2026, making Illinois the first US state to require independent, third-party audits of the largest AI systems’ safety practices.
What the law requires
The law applies to “frontier developers” — companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue that train models using extraordinary amounts of computing power, according to the bill’s text. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office said roughly a dozen companies meet that bar, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta and xAI, and will have to publish and annually update a safety framework covering catastrophic-risk assessment, cybersecurity and third-party evaluations.
Developers must also file transparency reports before releasing or significantly updating a frontier model, and report serious safety incidents to the attorney general within 72 hours — or 24 hours if there’s an imminent risk of death or injury. Companies that miss these obligations face civil penalties of up to $1 million for a first violation and up to $3 million for repeat offenses, enforced by the attorney general’s office. The law also creates confidential reporting channels and whistleblower protections for employees who flag AI safety concerns internally.
Why now
Pritzker’s office pointed to real-world incidents — including an AI-linked mass shooting and attacks on municipal water and drainage systems — as motivation for the bill, according to Capitol News Illinois. “States have a responsibility to protect our people from the dangers of AI while still harnessing the unique potential,” Pritzker said in a statement.
OpenAI and Anthropic backed the legislation, while trade group TechNet argued it would force “highly subjective determinations” in the absence of established national standards. The bill passed with bipartisan support and takes effect January 1, 2027.
A different path than Colorado
Illinois’s approach contrasts with Colorado, which spent two years testing an EU-style AI law before Governor Jared Polis signed a narrower replacement in May 2026 that drops duty-of-care and risk-management requirements in favor of a disclosure-focused framework, according to an analysis by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.