AI labs seek vaccine-style liability shield from Washington; Treasury Secretary refuses
jbarbier · x · 2026-09-26
The post draws a parallel between AI labs' liability asks and the 1980s vaccine industry: after DPT lawsuits drove manufacturers out, Congress passed a 1986 law routing injury claims to a special federal court instead of suing makers directly.
- In 2025, OpenAI asked the White House for "liability protections," warning that without them the AI race against China is "effectively over."
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back twice in September: "The one thing we should not do is give [AI labs] a blank check on liability," saying labs asked Washington to "take the liability off of our hands" and "we will not do that."
The author argues that without a shield, labs bear risk alone—the cheapest strategy being keeping best models internal, slowing releases, and moving up the stack with their own models, which is exactly what we're seeing.
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