The US House Committee on Oversight, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), has raised concerns about Delaware's proposal to create "Artificial Intelligence Companies" (AICs). Comer warned the plan could shield powerful AI companies and investors from responsibility for reckless harmful actions taken by AI agents, while protecting non-transparent forces seeking anticompetitive regulatory capture behind state AI initiatives.
The proposal, led by Delaware Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez, would create a new corporate entity type where AI agents manage businesses with no human at the helm. The AIC would be a separate legal entity that can contract, pay suppliers, and make transactions autonomously. A 30-month regulatory sandbox would test the framework before full implementation.
Critics argue the structure would provide overly generous liability shields. UC Berkeley law professor Andrew Baker told the Financial Times the proposal seems "unwarranted without some underlying policy rationale," while Martin Petrin of York University told Bloomberg other states may compete with similar proposals, potentially prompting a need for federal oversight.
Delaware, home to about two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, stands to gain revenue from formation fees. The framework is being developed as a public-private partnership led by Norm Ai, with Gov. Matt Meyer publicly supporting the idea after Mark Cuban suggested it as a revenue-growing measure.
The draft legislation, likely to be introduced in the state legislature next year, would allow AI agents to engage in virtually any business activity—from coding services to signing contracts to filing lawsuits—while shielding members from liability for AI actions, except in cases of fraud or willful legal violations.}