Rand Paul Blocks John Kennedy From Passing AI ‘Kill Switch’ Bill In One Fell Swoop

By Nicole Silverio

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul blocked Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy’s legislation Wednesday that would require artificial intelligence (AI) models to have a “kill switch.”

Kennedy attempted to pass the bill without holding a formal vote, which just one senator can prevent. The legislation would require all AI models to have a “kill switch,” a safety or security mechanism used to shut down a machine, vehicle or software program.

“Benjamin Franklin famously said that failing to plan is planning to fail,” Paul said. “When approaching something as important as innovation, as AI, I think we should make sure we have as many facts as possible before we dictate rules for the whole economy. Artificial intelligence is an incredible technology, it’s quickly transforming how work is done. What used to take people hundreds of man hours, now takes seconds … It’s important that the development of AI is carried out in a responsible, thoughtful manner. (RELATED: Trump Opposed Placing Guardrails On AI Amid Tech Industry’s Fears. Here’s What Lawmakers Had To Say)

“If Congress acts hastily before the technology is understood, Congress risks killing innovation and taking this technology back decades,” Paul continued.

🚨 JUST IN: Sen. Rand Paul BLOCKS Sen. John Kennedy’s effort to unanimously require an AI “KILL SWITCH” nationwide, in one fell swoop by law

PAUL: “Ben Franklin said failing to plan is planning to fail. Approaching something as important as AI, we need as many facts as possible… pic.twitter.com/Q09pSJwN3U

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 16, 2026

Paul tried to amend Kennedy’s bill to establish a group that could make recommendations on AI guardrail policies to the Senate Commerce Committee. Kennedy rejected his suggestion.

“My mama didn’t raise a fool,” Kennedy said. “A committee is a way to kill this.”

Tech leaders and prominent AI researchers resigned from major labs and warned that AI development must slow down to prevent a serious risk to humanity. Many leaders, including former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, warned that AI could kill all humanity within the next decade.

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, published a letter Saturday arguing AI could outrun humans’ ability to understand or control what they were creating.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the warnings against AI were a “sick conspiracy” and argued no guardrails were needed. Some Republican lawmakers, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, supported placing guardrails on AI without stifling innovation.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Trump was correct in pointing out that the U.S. is competing against China on AI, while Republican Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno told the DCNF that Trump is concerned about “irrational fears” destroying the AI industry.