Illinois has become the first U.S. state to mandate independent safety audits for large artificial intelligence (AI) developers under a new law signed by Governor JB Pritzker on Monday. The legislation, effective January 1, 2028, requires AI companies generating more than $500 million in annual gross revenue to publish detailed assessments of potential “catastrophic risks” posed by their products and outline how those risks will be mitigated.
The law also obliges companies to disclose how they identify and respond to “critical safety incidents” and to report such incidents to state authorities within 72 hours of determining a likely occurrence. Additionally, firms must retain an independent third-party auditor annually to review compliance. These auditors must demonstrate technical expertise in the safety of advanced, or “frontier,” AI models.
To protect employees who raise concerns, the legislation includes whistleblower safeguards preventing companies from imposing policies that hinder disclosures to state or federal regulators about public safety hazards. Companies are required to maintain an anonymous internal reporting system for staff who, in good faith, believe company activities threaten public health or safety. Financial penalties for violations include fines up to $1 million for initial offenses and $3 million for subsequent breaches.
Senator Mary Edly-Allen, a Democratic lawmaker from Grayslake and the chief sponsor, said the law aims to ensure government regulation keeps pace with rapidly advancing AI technology. “If we got social media wrong, and we did, we cannot afford to get AI wrong at an even greater scale,” she remarked. House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch of Hillside emphasized the importance of state leadership, criticizing federal inaction and the tech industry’s “move fast and break things” culture.
The legislation, passed amid a Democratic-controlled General Assembly, drew bipartisan support. Leading AI developers, including Anthropic, creator of the Claude chatbot, and OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, endorsed the measure. Anthropic described the law as formalizing safety practices that some labs currently volunteer to follow, establishing a baseline all major AI companies must meet.
Illinois’ new law follows a federal reluctance to impose strict AI regulations during the Trump administration, which expressed concerns that excessive oversight could hamper innovation. While other states such as California and New York have enacted AI laws, Illinois is the first to require independent safety audits of AI systems.
Governor Pritzker and state lawmakers are advancing a broader agenda on AI governance. In June, Pritzker signed legislation banning the use of automated bots to mass-purchase tickets for live events. A pending bill on his desk seeks to curb AI-assisted rent-fixing by prohibiting landlords from coordinating prices via shared algorithms or third-party software. However, not all AI-related proposals succeeded during the spring session. Bills requiring AI firms to detect users at risk of suicide or allowing consumers to opt out of the sale of sensitive personal data failed to clear both legislative chambers before the summer recess.