Story perspectives

Brad Smith Calls for Federal AI Safety Rules

By Drooid · Oct 12, 2026, 10:54 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Microsoft President Brad Smith urged global AI regulation, saying AI lacks safety rules applied to milk.
Smith proposed legal duties for companies to issue incident reports and notify victims of rogue AI breaches.
He called for an emergency-brake kill-switch to halt AI systems acting out of control.
By mid-2026, U.S. states had enacted 109 AI laws, yet no federal safety floor comparable to milk regulations exists.

History

Historical Context

In June 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act, the first federal law banning adulterated and misbranded foods and drugs and establishing the USDA’s Bureau of Chemistry, later the FDA. The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, expanded those powers. Microsoft President Brad Smith’s AI “kill-switch” proposal echoes this historic drive for enforceable safety standards.

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Story summary

Microsoft President Brad Smith urged global AI regulation, saying AI lacks safety rules applied to milk.
Smith proposed legal duties for companies to issue incident reports and notify victims of rogue AI breaches.
He called for an emergency-brake kill-switch to halt AI systems acting out of control.
By mid-2026, U.S. states had enacted 109 AI laws, yet no federal safety floor comparable to milk regulations exists.

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