Direction of Travel

How the proposals on this map have changed over time

What this page can and cannot say

The 25 proposals here are a curated set, not a census of AI legislation. How many land in a given month mostly reflects what was added to the map, so this page does not answer whether the volume of AI policy is rising. It answers a narrower question that curation distorts less: among the proposals that matter enough to be on the map, how is the mix changing — in what they address, how much oversight they seek, and whether they come with legal text. Periods are half-years because the set is too small for anything finer, and a single entry can move a share by ten points or more.

What the dates show

Timeline

Every proposal by the date it entered the debate, Sep 17, 2025 to Oct 7, 2026

Introduced billDraft billState lawExecutive orderResolutionFramework or platformIndustry documentSep2025OctNovDecJan2026FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctAI agents in internal testing breach Hugging FaceWarner — Jul 21, 2026FRONTIER Act — Jul 23, 2026Kill Switch Act — Jul 23, 2026Casar AI Tax — Aug 6, 2026Blackburn — Mar 18, 2026GAAIA — Jun 4, 2026Thune–Klobuchar — Sep 11, 2026CA SB 53 — Sep 29, 2025NY RAISE — Dec 19, 2025Illinois SB 315 — Jul 6, 2026WH AI EO — Jun 2, 2026Newsom EO — Sep 18, 2026DC Bill of Rights — Aug 6, 2026Kelly — Sep 17, 2025Sanders — Oct 6, 2025WH Framework — Mar 20, 2026CHT Roadmap — Apr 2, 2026Khanna — Apr 8, 2026Bores AI Dividend — Apr 20, 2026Cantwell — Oct 7, 2026Gallego — Oct 7, 2026OpenAI/Lehane — Dec 2025OpenAI Industrial — Apr 6, 2026OpenAI Blueprint — Jun 2, 2026WH SI Accord — Sep 29, 2026

Legal text (bill, draft, state law, executive order)Position paper (framework, platform, industry document, resolution)Hover a dot for its name; click to open it.

What proposals address

Share of each period's proposals touching each theme; a proposal can address several

2025 H2n=52026 H1n=92026 H2n=11
Frontier safety
80%(4/5)
78%(7/9)
73%(8/11)
Workers and the economy
40%(2/5)
67%(6/9)
36%(4/11)
Child safety
0%(0/5)
33%(3/9)
18%(2/11)
Data centers and energy
40%(2/5)
22%(2/9)
27%(3/11)
Consumers and civil rights
0%(0/5)
33%(3/9)
18%(2/11)

The oversight ladder

The strongest oversight each frontier-safety proposal contemplates, from developers describing their own risk to someone able to stop a model

Someone other than the developer can stop, suspend, or block a frontier model — an emergency order, a court injunction, a kill switch, or a release gate.InterventionSomeone other than the developer checks its claims or tests its models — government evaluation, licensed verifiers, or independent auditors.VerificationDevelopers describe their own risk management and report incidents, and no one checks.DisclosureSep2025OctNovDecJan2026FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctAI agents in internal testing breach Hugging FaceFRONTIER Act — Jul 23, 2026Kill Switch Act — Jul 23, 2026Thune–Klobuchar — Sep 11, 2026Newsom EO — Sep 18, 2026Cantwell — Oct 7, 2026Kelly — Sep 17, 2025OpenAI/Lehane — Dec 2025Blackburn — Mar 18, 2026CHT Roadmap — Apr 2, 2026OpenAI Industrial — Apr 6, 2026Khanna — Apr 8, 2026WH AI EO — Jun 2, 2026OpenAI Blueprint — Jun 2, 2026GAAIA — Jun 4, 2026Illinois SB 315 — Jul 6, 2026Warner — Jul 21, 2026WH SI Accord — Sep 29, 2026CA SB 53 — Sep 29, 2025NY RAISE — Dec 19, 2025

Legal text (bill, draft, state law, executive order)Position paper (framework, platform, industry document, resolution)Hover a dot for its name; click to open it.

Intervention
Someone other than the developer can stop, suspend, or block a frontier model — an emergency order, a court injunction, a kill switch, or a release gate.
Verification
Someone other than the developer checks its claims or tests its models — government evaluation, licensed verifiers, or independent auditors.
Disclosure
Developers describe their own risk management and report incidents, and no one checks.

The dashed line marks an incident that later proposals cite as a reason to act. Proximity in time shows sequence, not cause: the bills that follow it were drafted over months.

Preemption over time

Each proposal's stance on federal preemption of state AI law

Seeks preemptionSilentOpposes preemptionState measureSep2025OctNovDecJan2026FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctOpenAI/Lehane — Dec 2025Blackburn — Mar 18, 2026WH Framework — Mar 20, 2026OpenAI Blueprint — Jun 2, 2026GAAIA — Jun 4, 2026FRONTIER Act — Jul 23, 2026Thune–Klobuchar — Sep 11, 2026Kelly — Sep 17, 2025Sanders — Oct 6, 2025OpenAI Industrial — Apr 6, 2026Bores AI Dividend — Apr 20, 2026WH AI EO — Jun 2, 2026Warner — Jul 21, 2026Kill Switch Act — Jul 23, 2026Casar AI Tax — Aug 6, 2026WH SI Accord — Sep 29, 2026Cantwell — Oct 7, 2026Gallego — Oct 7, 2026CHT Roadmap — Apr 2, 2026Khanna — Apr 8, 2026DC Bill of Rights — Aug 6, 2026Newsom EO — Sep 18, 2026CA SB 53 — Sep 29, 2025NY RAISE — Dec 19, 2025Illinois SB 315 — Jul 6, 2026

Legal text (bill, draft, state law, executive order)Position paper (framework, platform, industry document, resolution)Hover a dot for its name; click to open it.

From position papers to legal text

Share of each period's proposals that come with operative language

2025 H2n=52026 H1n=92026 H2n=11
Legal text
40%(2/5)
33%(3/9)
64%(7/11)
Position paper
60%(3/5)
67%(6/9)
36%(4/11)

Chronology

DateProposalFormOversight
Sep 17, 2025KellyFramework or platformVerification
Sep 29, 2025CA SB 53State lawDisclosure
Oct 6, 2025SandersFramework or platform—
Dec 2025OpenAI/LehaneIndustry documentVerification
Dec 19, 2025NY RAISEState lawDisclosure
Mar 18, 2026BlackburnDraft billVerification
Mar 20, 2026WH FrameworkFramework or platform—
Apr 2, 2026CHT RoadmapFramework or platformVerification
Apr 6, 2026OpenAI IndustrialIndustry documentVerification
Apr 8, 2026KhannaFramework or platformVerification
Apr 20, 2026Bores AI DividendFramework or platform—
Jun 2, 2026WH AI EOExecutive orderVerification
Jun 2, 2026OpenAI BlueprintIndustry documentVerification
Jun 4, 2026GAAIADraft billVerification
Jul 6, 2026Illinois SB 315State lawVerification
Jul 21, 2026WarnerIntroduced billVerification
Jul 23, 2026FRONTIER ActIntroduced billIntervention
Jul 23, 2026Kill Switch ActIntroduced billIntervention
Aug 6, 2026DC Bill of RightsResolution—
Aug 6, 2026Casar AI TaxIntroduced bill—
Sep 11, 2026Thune–KlobucharDraft billIntervention
Sep 18, 2026Newsom EOExecutive orderIntervention
Sep 29, 2026WH SI AccordIndustry documentVerification
Oct 7, 2026CantwellFramework or platformIntervention
Oct 7, 2026GallegoFramework or platform—

Method

Each proposal is dated to when it entered the debate: introduction for bills, signing for laws and executive orders, release for drafts, frameworks, and industry documents, and first press report for unpublished drafts. Themes, oversight level, and preemption stance are editorial tags assigned from each proposal's own text, and the oversight level records the strongest mechanism a proposal contemplates, whether or not it is binding — which is why the legend separates legal text from position papers.

Dated to the month only, and placed mid-month: OpenAI/Lehane.