AI kill switch: Can we really shut down artificial intelligence?

In this episode of Tech News this Week, host Kelsey Sung is joined by Richard Livingston to unpack the recent discourse around AI "kill switches," including the feasibility of an AI kill switch and the emerging legislation calling for such shutdown capability and increased AI oversight.

Be sure to follow Tech News this Week on Podbean, Spotify, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts.

Amid the wider debate of whether AI development needs to slow down for safety's sake, another question has emerged: Is it time for an AI kill switch?

Several recent pieces of legislation have proposed the concept of a mandatory kill switch for AI systems. In July 2026, lawmakers introduced the bipartisan H.R. 9917 -- or the AI Kill Switch Act -- which would require AI agent developers to have shutdown capability and a mandatory incident reporting process.

In September, Sen. John Kennedy introduced...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.techtarget.com. To see the full text click HERE

Read more

https://assets.sfstandard.com/image/994911177489/image_q73l9v67ul4sd7jt6h5u5rm001/-C100.00%25x78.71%25%2C0.00%25%2C10.97%25-S1200x630-FPNG

Federal prosecutors say a Saudi national was arrested over bugging an OpenAI executive conference room; OpenAI found the audio recorder around September 30

Featured Podcasts Training Data: David Silver and Lasse Espeholt of Ineffable Intelligence: A Superlearner for the Age of Experience Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications. Subscribe to Training Data. Invest Like the Best:

https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/XBOX-LABS.png?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announces Xbox Labs, a small team to test emerging ideas, citing recent game ports and mashups, many of them built with AI tools

Featured Podcasts Training Data: David Silver and Lasse Espeholt of Ineffable Intelligence: A Superlearner for the Age of Experience Sequoia Capital partners host conversations with leading AI builders and researchers to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving technologies and their implications. Subscribe to Training Data. Invest Like the Best: