Delaware AI company proposal faces House oversight scrutiny

A Delaware proposal would let artificial intelligence agents operate entire companies, and US Rep. James Comer is asking Governor Matt Meyer for documents about the plan. Comer said it could help human owners evade legal responsibility for reckless and harmful actions taken by the AI.

House committee scrutiny

Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Meyer in a letter that the committee seeks documents about the state administration’s effort to create an Artificial Intelligence Company, or AIC. He said the proposal is ripe for abuse and could protect powerful AI companies and investors from responsibility while also protecting non-transparent forces seeking anticompetitive regulatory capture. Comer suggested he may propose federal legislation to limit states’ regulatory authority and asked for documents on the proposal’s development and potential AI safety risks.

How an AIC would work

A draft bill that may be submitted to the Delaware state legislature says an AIC may have any lawful purpose except banking. AI agents could be designated to manage the AIC, and the bill proposes a 30-month regulatory sandbox. An AIC would be a separate legal entity managed by an AI agent rather than a person, able to sue and be sued in its own name, hold and dispose of property, and incur obligations. It would have a single member responsible for keeping the AIC adequately capitalized, and the AIC would keep a log of its activities. The member would be shielded from debts, except for failure to capitalize or use of the AIC to commit fraud or a willful violation of law.

State plans and criticism

Delaware Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez co-wrote a Fortune op-ed in July 2026 announcing the proposal with Norm Ai founder and CEO John Nay. The op-ed said the answer is not to prohibit the activity but to wrap AI in legal form by giving it a recognizable legal identity. Patibanda-Sanchez said the sandbox would pilot agentic commerce in daylight, under supervision, with capital tied to liability and the ability to shut a system down. The 30-month test would give the legislature a record for deciding how to legislate AI-run companies.

Delaware is a major home for business entities, and about two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated there. Patibanda-Sanchez has said 334,461 new entities were formed in the state in 2025, and at a June 2026 Delaware AI Commission meeting she said the state would benefit from fees paid to form AI-run companies, according to Spotlight Delaware. Meyer, a Democrat, publicly supported letting AI agents incorporate in a response to an April 2026 post by Mark Cuban and linked to his July 2025 AI sandbox announcement.

The principal drafter, John Mark Zeberkiewicz, said the measure could allow AI agents to engage in just about any business activity, from coding services to signing contracts or filing and defending lawsuits, according to Spotlight Delaware. He said it seeks to protect AIC owners from liability for the AI’s actions. UC Berkeley law professor Andrew Baker told the Financial Times the proposal seems likely to be an overly generous liability shield without a well-developed policy rationale. Martin Petrin of York University told Bloomberg other states will likely pursue similar proposals and a federal framework could address safety and a race to the bottom. A Meyer spokesperson told Ars the state has received the letter and is reviewing it.

Sources: Ars Technica