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Committee considers civil-liability proposal for harms caused by advanced AI systems
Summary
House Bill 5224 would create a civil cause of action for non-users harmed by covered AI models or derivatives, making developers potentially strictly liable for certain unintended harms. Sponsor Representative Carson said the bill aims to clarify recourse for victims of accidental or unforeseeable harms caused by advanced AI systems.
Representative Carson introduced House Bill 5224, which would provide a civil remedy for harms caused by advanced artificial-intelligence systems. The sponsor told the committee the bill clarifies that developers of covered models would be civilly liable for injuries to non-users when those harms are not reasonably foreseeable by a user and satisfy ordinary negligence elements; the bill would not cover defamation claims in the same provision.
Carson framed the proposal as a way to give injured parties recourse when sophisticated AI systems cause financial, physical or emotional harm that users could not reasonably foresee. The language discussed in the hearing tracks a strict-liability approach for covered-model developers in certain circumstances and aims to mirror the structure of federal liability statutes but adapted for AI-related harms.
No public witnesses provided long-form testimony in the excerpt; several committee members signed in opposition without testifying. The transcript records an explanation from the sponsor and a short exchange about scope; the bill was left for further committee review.
