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- The state of Delaware wants businesses added by AI agents to the already long list of generous regulations in operation.
- Rep. James Comer calls for safety assessments and warns of potential federal legislation if results are unsatisfactory
- Delaware’s bill specifies a 30-month regulatory sandbox for testing, and allows any legal business to operate from an Artificial Intelligence company except banks
The US state of Delaware plans to add to its generous business rules by allowing companies to operate from AI agents – but congressional lawmakers are not so sure, with a Republican representative writing to the state’s governor to express his concerns, with demands for security reviews.
Businesses with a Delaware address operate under a number of advantageous regulations, including low (or zero, depending on where the businesses do their sales) tax rates and specialized courts.
The prospect of an Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC) being established is not unlikely, but legal experts believe that Delaware’s bill can be used to implement a liability shield for businesses with AI interests.
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harmful actions
Delaware’s plans have come under the scrutiny of the House Oversight Committee, whose chairman, Rep. James Comer, wants to push back, with concerns about the ability of an AI to be in charge of a business.
According to the Financial Times, Comer wrote to Delaware Governor Matt Meyer. “We are concerned,” he wrote, “that Delaware’s AIC proposal could be used to shield powerful AI companies and their investors from liability for recklessly harmful actions.”
In short, if things go wrong, the AI is to blame and the business owner has no responsibility.
The draft bill calls for a 30-month regulatory period in which AI would be sandboxed. During this time, the concept can then be tested, with an AI agent making the business decisions instead of a human. Like any other business, the company could be sued, and take legal action itself if warranted.
Delaware’s plan could help establish AI-centric corporate structures (like autonomous commerce businesses), something many believe could happen overseas if no US state acts quickly.
Legal certainty
Several names in business and AI have previously supported the idea of AI-run businesses. The most notable is Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor, who earlier this year suggested that as “the first to make a killing on the market”, any “governor of a state that wants to grow their revenue” should allow “everyone to integrate with an AI agent and stablecoins.”
Andrew Baker, a professor of law at the University of California, has dem FT that the Delaware legislation could be an attempt to reach a middle ground, perhaps to achieve “legal certainty” for Delaware-registered businesses that use agentic AI.
“Ultimately, the most likely outcome seems to be an overly generous liability shield that seems unwarranted without some underlying policy rationale that has not been well developed or justified,” Baker said.
As corporations function as a shield for personal responsibility, this would not seem beyond the reach of business legislation. However, these cases involve businesses run by humans who must be accountable to themselves, if not the law, and an AI agent has no such moral restraints.
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