# Illinois Becomes AI Regulation Leader with SB 315 Safety Law

> Illinois has enacted what its backers call the strongest state-level AI safety law in the country. Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 315 on July 6, and it takes effect at the start of 2027, requiring AI developers with more than $500 million in annual revenue to commission third-party audits and publish the risk frameworks governing their most powerful models. The law puts a concrete definition around the vague phrase 'catastrophic risk,' pegging it to incidents that kill or injure 50 or more people or cause at least $1 million in property damage. It also adds whistleblower protections for employees who flag safety problems, borrowing structure from earlier bills in California and New York. With federal AI rules still unsettled, states are increasingly writing their own, and a bipartisan law in a major industrial state raises the odds that audit-and-disclosure requirements become a de facto national baseline for the largest labs.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Illinois Governor's Office · Published Wednesday, July 22, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Illinois has enacted what its backers call the strongest state-level AI safety law in the country. Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 315 on July 6, and it takes effect at the start of 2027, requiring AI developers with more than $500 million in annual revenue to commission third-party audits and publish the risk frameworks governing their most powerful models. The law puts a concrete definition around the vague phrase 'catastrophic risk,' pegging it to incidents that kill or injure 50 or more people or cause at least $1 million in property damage. It also adds whistleblower protections for employees who flag safety problems, borrowing structure from earlier bills in California and New York. With federal AI rules still unsettled, states are increasingly writing their own, and a bipartisan law in a major industrial state raises the odds that audit-and-disclosure requirements become a de facto national baseline for the largest labs.

## Source

[Read the full story at Illinois Governor's Office](https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-nation-leading-artificial-intelligence-safety-law)

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