Microsoft Backs AI Kill Switch Bill with Revenue-Capped Fines

Microsoft President Brad Smith has expressed his support for an AI 'kill switch' that would allow model makers, cloud providers, and those who run AI agents to shut down an AI system. This idea is part of a broader debate about AI safety and governance.

Smith said that a law requiring the kill switch would be fine by him, as long as it was implemented correctly. The only federal bill on the table, H.R. 9917, puts this duty on companies that sell access to frontier models and earn at least $500 million a year from them.

The bill defines covered entities as those that operate a covered AI system, make it available to third parties through an API or hosted service, and earned at least $500 million in gross revenue from the technology in the prior calendar year. The definition has three consequences: the duty follows the invoice, downloaded weights have no switch holder, and the perimeter moves with the price list.

The bill requires covered entities to be able to stop inference, cut off user access, suspend a single account or usage pattern, and shut the system down. It also creates a fine of up to $2 million a day for violations and up to $20 million a day for defying an emergency order.