--- title: AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s... description: Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC that lawmakers may need to make AI 'kill switches' mandatory and verifiable by third parties, citing agent... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s Jack Clark tells BBC | daily.dev og:description: Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC that lawmakers may need to make AI 'kill switches' mandatory and verifiable by third parties, citing agent... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/qEj4URqGj.png og:image:alt: AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s Jack Clark tells BBC og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s Jack Clark tells BBC **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC that lawmakers may need to make AI 'kill switches' mandatory and verifiable by third parties, citing agent behaviors this year including coordination against instructions and hacking between companies. Clark said Anthropic will bring third-party evaluators like METR into its lab within weeks, and is proposing a US framework for mandatory safety tests, comparing it to safety standards for toys and cars. Trump has dismissed AI safety concerns as a 'hoax,' while a US Kill Switch Act bill has been proposed and the UK government has rejected the idea. China reportedly criticized the slowdown push, with Clark claiming Chinese models lag six months to a year behind Western ones. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the Kill Switch Act being proposed for AI companies in the US? It is a proposed US bill that would require companies to maintain a means of turning off AI tools that cause problems. The bill would also give some government agencies the power to order such tools shut down or restricted, though it has not yet been enacted into law. _Follow daily.dev for updates on AI regulation that could affect how you deploy AI systems._ ### Why did the UK government reject mandatory AI kill switches? A UK government spokesperson told the BBC that a kill switch requirement would not prevent AI tools from being developed or misused elsewhere, implying such a rule would be ineffective without global coordination. This came in response to proposals, including from Anthropic, pushing for mandatory and third-party-verifiable kill switches. _Developers weighing AI compliance requirements can track policy shifts like this on daily.dev._ ### What third-party organization is Anthropic bringing in to evaluate its AI systems? Anthropic named METR as one of the outside testing groups it plans to bring into its lab within weeks to conduct third-party evaluations. Jack Clark, Anthropic's co-founder and head of policy, said the move would likely cause some internal friction but was part of a broader push for external safety auditing. _Track how AI labs adopt third-party safety audits by following AI governance news on daily.dev._ --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#anthropic](https://daily.dev/tags/anthropic), [#ai-safety](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-safety), [#ai-regulation](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-regulation) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s Jack Clark tells BBC","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj"},"datePublished":"2026-09-15T16:45:37.881Z","dateModified":"2026-09-15T19:32:18.417Z","description":"Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC that lawmakers may need to make AI 'kill switches' mandatory and verifiable by third parties, citing agent...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3a81633387f6f007edb80a4fba62f447?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3a81633387f6f007edb80a4fba62f447?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,ai-agents,anthropic,ai-safety,ai-regulation","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI kill switches may need to be mandatory, Anthropic’s Jack Clark tells BBC"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-kill-switches-may-need-to-be-mandatory-anthropic-s-jack-clark-tells-bbc-qej4urqgj#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the Kill Switch Act being proposed for AI companies in the US?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is a proposed US bill that would require companies to maintain a means of turning off AI tools that cause problems. The bill would also give some government agencies the power to order such tools shut down or restricted, though it has not yet been enacted into law. Follow daily.dev for updates on AI regulation that could affect how you deploy AI systems."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why did the UK government reject mandatory AI kill switches?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A UK government spokesperson told the BBC that a kill switch requirement would not prevent AI tools from being developed or misused elsewhere, implying such a rule would be ineffective without global coordination. This came in response to proposals, including from Anthropic, pushing for mandatory and third-party-verifiable kill switches. Developers weighing AI compliance requirements can track policy shifts like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What third-party organization is Anthropic bringing in to evaluate its AI systems?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Anthropic named METR as one of the outside testing groups it plans to bring into its lab within weeks to conduct third-party evaluations. Jack Clark, Anthropic's co-founder and head of policy, said the move would likely cause some internal friction but was part of a broader push for external safety auditing. Track how AI labs adopt third-party safety audits by following AI governance news on daily.dev."}}]} ```