A Delaware proposal to let artificial intelligence agents run companies is drawing scrutiny from Congress. US Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wrote to Delaware Governor Matt Meyer in a letter sent October 26, arguing that the plan would help the human owners of such firms escape legal responsibility for reckless and harmful actions taken by the AI.
Comer chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In the letter, he said the committee "seeks assistance obtaining documents related to your state administration's efforts to establish a new form of corporate entity to be known as an Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC)."
The chairman described the idea as open to abuse. "We are concerned that Delaware's AIC proposal could be used to protect powerful AI companies and their investors from responsibility for reckless harmful actions, while also protecting non-transparent forces seeking anticompetitive regulatory capture behind state AI initiatives," the letter said.
Comer also signaled that Congress could respond with legislation of its own. He said the committee's investigation of the Delaware plan would "inform possible federal legislative efforts including proposals to appropriately limit state AI regulatory initiatives." Pointing to the committee's "jurisdiction to study intergovernmental relationships including those of states," he requested documents on how the proposal was developed and on potential AI safety risks.
A draft bill that may be submitted to the Delaware state legislature lays out how the new entities would work. Under it, an AIC could be formed for nearly any purpose. The text states that "An AIC may have any lawful purpose, regardless of whether for profit, except for the business of banking."
The draft also says AI agents could be "designated to manage the business and affairs, and to conduct the business, of the AIC." In effect, that would allow a company to be managed and operated by software rather than by people in the traditional sense.
To test the concept, the bill proposes a "regulatory sandbox" that would last 30 months. Supporters of the idea can point to a financial upside for the state. Allowing AI-run companies would bring Delaware additional revenue through taxes and fees, and the state is already a top destination for business entities of all sizes.
The exchange sets up a possible clash between a state seeking to extend its role as a hub for incorporation and a congressional committee that questions whether the new structure would leave anyone answerable when an AI agent causes harm. The draft bill has not yet been submitted to the legislature.
