A bipartisan group in Congress and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California have proposed building a mechanism to instantly power down rogue A. I. systems, but experts say creating a kill switch is harder than assumed.

A. I. systems are often distributed across multiple computers and data centers, making a single 'plug' nonexistent. Helen Toner of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology noted such systems could be vulnerable to hackers or even dismantle the switch themselves.

Vinh Nguyen of the Council on Foreign Relations compared kill switch risks to back doors in smartphones. Despite stalled federal bills, Newsom signed an executive order to study A. I. kill switches after previously vetoing similar legislation.

Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran sponsor the Kill Switch Act, requiring major labs like Open AI, Anthropic, and Meta to embed shutdown mechanisms, emphasizing human control over A. I.