Rep. James Comer has asked Delaware's governor for documents on a proposed 'Artificial Intelligence Company' structure, warning it could shield owners from liability for harmful AI actions.
A Delaware proposal to let companies be managed by AI agents has drawn a congressional inquiry. According to a report by Ars Technica, US Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wrote to Delaware Governor Matt Meyer seeking documents about the state's efforts to create a new entity called an Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC). Comer said the concept could be used to protect powerful AI firms and their investors from responsibility for reckless or harmful actions, and he suggested the committee's probe could inform possible federal legislation limiting states' authority over AI regulation.
Under a draft bill that may be submitted to the Delaware legislature, an AIC would be a separate legal entity whose business and affairs could be managed by a designated AI agent. It would have a single member, a person or an entity, responsible for keeping it adequately capitalized and for maintaining a log of its activities, and it could pursue any lawful purpose except banking. The draft says the member would not be liable for the AIC's acts or omissions, with exceptions for fraud, willful violations of law, or knowingly letting the company operate outside its stated purpose. The plan includes a 30-month regulatory sandbox, and Delaware's Secretary of State outlined the idea in a July 2026 Fortune op-ed co-written with the chief executive of Norm Ai, a private company that says it builds legal AI agents.
Reaction so far has been cautious. A spokesperson for Governor Meyer told Ars Technica the office had received the letter and was reviewing it, while the Secretary of State's office declined to comment. UC Berkeley law professor Andrew Baker told the Financial Times the proposal looks like an overly generous liability shield, and York University's Martin Petrin told Bloomberg that other states may follow and that a federal framework could help. The stakes are notable because about two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, but the AIC concept remains a draft and has not become law.
