S. 5105: Collaboration on Adversarial Threats and Security Risks Act

This bill would create a narrow antitrust exception for certain coordination between non-federal entities, such as private companies, when they share information or work together to address risks from advanced artificial intelligence systems.

What the bill allows

Under the bill, it would not count as an antitrust violation if two or more non-federal entities:

• share information or assistance about a covered AI security risk, as long as they do so in good faith and only for a covered AI security purpose; or
• coordinate or agree to delay, limit, or restrict the release, deployment, use, development, training, testing, or evaluation of AI, but only if the goal is to reduce a covered AI security risk and they first give written notice to the DOJ Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General describing the specific risk and the proposed restriction.

What counts as an AI security risk

The bill defines “covered artificial intelligence security risks” broadly. These include risks that AI could:

• be stolen, copied, weaponized, or used by a foreign adversary or covered nation in a way that threatens national security;
• substantially help create chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or offensive cyber weapons;
• disrupt critical infrastructure in a way that could significantly affect security, public health, or safety;
• make it harder for developers, users, or government agencies to oversee, monitor, control, restrict, disable, or shut down the AI system;
• improve itself in a way that creates one of the risks above; or
• be accessed without authorization in a way that creates one of those risks or benefits a covered nation or its controlled entities.

Limits on the exemption

The exemption is not automatic in every case. A company receiving information or assistance must use it only for an AI security purpose and have reasonable internal controls to keep it from being used for other purposes.

If the bill is used as a defense in an antitrust case, the companies relying on it would have to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they acted in good faith and only for the allowed security purpose.

The bill also says the exemption does not allow price-fixing, market allocation, monopolization, boycotts, or sharing of price or cost information.

Government review and enforcement

The Attorney General would still be able to ask a court for an injunction to stop conduct that violates antitrust laws. The bill says there is no immunity from injunctions if the parties fail to meet the bill’s requirements, or if the government shows that the conduct is likely to increase AI security risks overall.

Information submitted to the DOJ under the required notice process would be treated as confidential and exempt from public disclosure under federal freedom-of-information rules.

Relevant Companies

None found