Delaware Moves to Let AI Agents Own Corporations
Delaware is pushing a bill that lets fully autonomous AI agents form and run their own companies, which is bad news for accountability and consumer protection.
- Delaware lawmakers want to create a legal structure letting AI agents incorporate and operate businesses with no human directly in charge.
- The plan includes a "regulatory sandbox" where these AI-run companies could operate for 30 months with few clear rules.
- There's no real plan for who pays if an AI company breaks the law, causes harm, or loses money — the only requirement is vague "adequate capitalization," with no definition of what that means.
- Delaware's secretary of state co-authored a public piece promoting the plan alongside an AI company founder who stands to benefit financially, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
- Delaware leans heavily on corporate registration fees for its state budget, giving it a financial incentive to attract this business even with weak safeguards.
Outlook: Local organizers are trying to kill or slow the bill before it passes, while Congress is only beginning to discuss federal rules that could preempt state-level AI legislation like this.