OpenAI and Anthropic Split on Massachusetts AI Safety Bill Requiring 120-Day Risk Reviews

OpenAI and Anthropic Clash Over Massachusetts' AI Safety Push

Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing some of the toughest state-level artificial intelligence rules in the U.S. The state Senate passed an economic development bill last month requiring AI labs to go through independent reviews of the "catastrophic risks" every 120 days, Bloomberg reported. The results would be publicly released, but the state would not have the authority to use them to stop AI development. The border legislation is expected to pass in the legislature prior to the November election, due to the fact that it includes funding for projects in lawmakers' home districts. A six-member negotiating committee made up of the House and Senate members is now working to resolve the remaining differences, including the AI provisions. Bloomberg noted that Anthropic retained Boston-based lobbying firm Tremont Strategies Group earlier this year and OpenAI recently hired lobbying shop Benchmark Strategies to lead the effort. Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic's head of U.S. State and Local Government Relations, stated in a post on X that the company is in favor of the new laws: "We applaud the Massachusetts Senate for passing the clearest and strongest AI safety legislation in the country. The Senate's economic development bill raises the bar on AI safety while ensuring that innovation is able to continue." Markets Ramp Takes a Shot at OpenRouter With New AI Service Ramp launched a new AI tool that lets businesses send prompts to different large language models through a single API. 2 min read Read this article "We have long believed frontier AI safety is best addressed by a strong federal standard. But powerful AI won't wait for consensus in Washington and Massachusetts just showed what thoughtful state leadership looks like," he continued. Latest Private Market Opportunities Join 400,000+ Investors Meanwhile, OpenAI has cautioned the reviews could delay the rollout of cybersecurity-focused models that could address some of the threats lawmakers are concerned about. The ChatGPT maker is pushing for states to follow a consistent framework modeled after Illinois law. "Different rules don't make things safer. They just create confusion," Donnie Fowler, OpenAI's head of U.S. state policy and partnerships, stated. Illinois' artificial intelligence law calls for a third-party audit once a year, and is aimed at ensuring that AI companies are following the safety guidelines and disclosures outlined in the law. The Massachusetts proposal is similar, also requiring an annual compliance review; however, third-party groups would also have the authority to focus on risks tied to potential catastrophic events, including incidents that could kill or injure at least 50 people or cause more than $1 billion in property damage, Bloomberg noted. Massachusetts State Senator Barry Finegold argued that independent testing is essential to making sure that frontier AI models don't pose serious risks to the public. If the state moves forward with the bill, he said other states are likely to also adopt this law. Markets xAI Just Did in 2.3 Years What Took SpaceX Nearly Two Decades It took SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) nearly two decades to reach a $100 billion valuation. xAI did it in just 2.3 years. 3 min read Read this article Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Anthropic and OpenAI Split as Massachusetts Pushes Nation's Toughest AI Safety Rules | PYMNTS.com

The proposal is included in a larger economic development bill that was passed by the Massachusetts Senate last month but still requires approval by the House and the governor, according to the report. The report described the provisions as "the nation's most stringent state-level safeguards" for AI and said the Massachusetts proposal would go further than the AI safety laws adopted by California, New York and Illinois. For example, while the Illinois law requires a third-party audit once a year to ensure labs are following their own safety guidelines, the Massachusetts bill would allow outside organizations to evaluate a model's potential dangers every 120 days, based on their own guidelines. The outside organization's findings would be made public, but the state would not be able to halt AI development, the report said. Anthropic's head of U.S. state and local government relations, Cesar Fernandez, said in the report that the Massachusetts proposal's more intensive third-party evaluations are needed because "we ultimately don't think the industry should grade its own homework." OpenAI's head of U.S. state policy and partnerships, Donnie Fowler, said in the report that OpenAI prefers that states model their standards on the Illinois law because inconsistency "doesn't mean safer. It just means confusion." The report said that Senate and House negotiators are ironing out the details of the economic development bill, including the AI provisions, and that the bill is likely to pass before the November election because it also includes funding for other projects. When Anthropic donated another $20 million to AI pro-regulation group Public First Action, bringing its total contributions to the group to $40 million, the company said in a press release: "We've supported newly passed laws in several states that require greater transparency for AI developers. But given how fast the capabilities of the most popular models are advancing, transparency alone is insufficient." It was reported in August 2025 that states introduced 260 AI-related bills in the first six months of 2025 and passed 22 of them into laws.