"No human at the helm": Delaware plan would let AI agents run entire businesses
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A Delaware proposal to let companies be operated by AI agents would help the firms’ human owners evade legal responsibility for reckless and harmful actions taken by the AI, US Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told Delaware Governor Matt Meyer in a letter yesterday.
特拉华州一项允许由人工智能代理运营公司的提案，将帮助这些公司的背后人类所有者逃避因人工智能的鲁莽和有害行为而应承担的法律责任。美国众议员詹姆斯·科默（共和党，肯塔基州）在昨日致特拉华州州长马特·迈耶的一封信中表达了上述观点。
Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Meyer that the committee “seeks assistance obtaining documents related to your state administration’s efforts to establish a new form of corporate entity to be known as an Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC).”
众议院监督与政府改革委员会主席科默告诉迈耶，该委员会“寻求协助以获取与贵州政府努力建立一种被称为‘人工智能公司’（AIC）的新型企业实体相关的文档。”
Comer said the proposal is ripe for abuse. “We are concerned that Delaware’s AIC proposal could be used to protect powerful AI companies and their investors from responsibility for reckless harmful actions, while also protecting non-transparent forces seeking anticompetitive regulatory capture behind state AI initiatives,” Comer’s letter said.
科默表示，该提案极易被滥用。科默在信中写道：“我们担心特拉华州的AIC提案可能被用于保护强大的人工智能公司及其投资者，使其免于为鲁莽的有害行为承担责任，同时也保护了那些在州级人工智能倡议背后寻求反竞争监管俘获的不透明势力。”
Comer suggested he may propose a federal law that would limit states’ regulatory authority. He said the committee’s probe of Delaware’s plan would “inform possible federal legislative efforts including proposals to appropriately limit state AI regulatory initiatives.”
科默暗示他可能会提议制定一项联邦法律，以限制各州的监管权力。他表示，委员会对特拉华州计划的调查将“为可能的联邦立法工作提供参考，包括旨在适当限制州级人工智能监管倡议的提案。”
Citing the Oversight Committee’s “jurisdiction to study intergovernmental relationships including those of states,” Comer asked for documents related to development of the proposal and potential AI safety risks.
科默援引监督委员会“研究包括州际关系在内的政府间关系的管辖权”，要求提供与该提案开发及潜在人工智能安全风险相关的文档。
AI-run companies could operate in just about any industry except banking. “An AIC may have any lawful purpose, regardless of whether for profit, except for the business of banking,” according to a draft bill that may be submitted to the Delaware state legislature.
人工智能运营的公司几乎可以在除银行业以外的任何行业开展业务。根据一份可能提交给特拉华州立法机构的法案草案，“AIC可以有任何合法目的，无论是否以营利为目的，但银行业务除外。”
The draft bill says AI agents could be “designated to manage the business and affairs, and to conduct the business, of the AIC.” The bill proposes a “regulatory sandbox” that would exist for 30 months to test the idea.
该法案草案称，人工智能代理可以被“指定管理AIC的业务和事务，并开展其业务。”该法案提议建立一个为期30个月的“监管沙盒”来测试这一构想。
Allowing AI-run companies would bring more revenue via taxes and fees to Delaware, which is already a top destination for business entities of all sizes.
允许人工智能运营的公司将通过税收和费用为特拉华州带来更多收入，该州目前已是各类规模企业的主要落户地。
“The answer is to wrap AI in legal form” In July 2026, Delaware’s Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez co-wrote an op-ed in Fortune announcing the proposal.
“答案是将人工智能纳入法律框架”。2026年7月，特拉华州州务卿查鲁尼·帕蒂班达-桑切斯在《财富》杂志上合写了一篇专栏文章，宣布了这一提案。
The op-ed said that “nothing in the law of several states clearly prevents an AI agent from operating a company with no human at the helm,” and that states should develop legal frameworks for autonomous software that is able to contract, pay suppliers, and make transactions with no human involvement.
该专栏文章称，“几个州的法律中没有任何明确规定禁止人工智能代理在没有人类掌舵的情况下运营公司”，并指出各州应为能够进行合同签署、支付供应商款项以及在无人参与的情况下进行交易的自主软件制定法律框架。
“The answer is not to try to prohibit the activity; any effort to do so is just as unlikely to succeed as the technology and its enablers are likely to push the boundaries of the law,” the op-ed said. “The answer is to wrap AI in legal form. Give an autonomous system a recognizable legal identity and you make it legible to law. You create a defined target to which responsibility and damages can attach. You make the agent’s conduct visible, traceable, and accountable.”
“答案不是试图禁止这种活动；任何这样做的努力都不太可能成功，因为技术及其推动者很可能会突破法律的界限，”文章写道。“答案是将人工智能纳入法律框架。赋予自主系统一个可识别的法律身份，你就能使其在法律层面变得清晰。你创造了一个明确的目标，责任和损害赔偿可以落实到该目标上。你使代理的行为变得可见、可追溯且可问责。”
The op-ed explained how an AI-run company will shield humans from legal liabilities: A Delaware AIC will be a separate legal entity whose day-to-day affairs are managed by an AI agent rather than a person.
该文章解释了人工智能运营的公司将如何保护人类免受法律责任：特拉华州的AIC将是一个独立的法律实体，其日常事务由人工智能代理而非个人管理。
At the agent’s direction, the AIC can sue and be sued in its own name, hold and dispose of property, and incur obligations. It has a single member, a person or an entity, responsible for keeping the AIC adequately capitalized, and the AIC must keep a log of its activities.
在代理的指导下，AIC可以以自己的名义起诉和被起诉、持有和处置财产，并承担义务。它拥有单一成员（个人或实体），负责确保AIC拥有充足的资本，且AIC必须保留其活动日志。
That member is shielded from the AIC’s debts, except where it fails to capitalize the company or uses it to commit fraud or a willful violation of law.
该成员免于承担AIC的债务，除非其未能为公司提供充足资本，或利用公司进行欺诈或蓄意违法行为。
Under the proposed law, the “member” is an individual or a corporation that would fund the AI-run company and benefit from any profits, but designate an AI agent to manage the actual business.
根据拟议法律，“成员”是指为人工智能运营公司提供资金并从利润中获益的个人或公司，但需指定一名人工智能代理来管理实际业务。
The draft bill says, “The member is not liable for any act or omission that the AIC takes or fails to take, or that another person takes or fails to take at the direction of the AIC.”
法案草案称：“对于AIC采取或未采取的任何行为或疏忽，或者在AIC指导下由他人采取或未采取的任何行为或疏忽，成员均不承担责任。”
There are exceptions for when a person uses the AI-run company “to engage in fraud or any willful violation of law,” or “caused or allowed the AIC to conduct business when the member knew or should have known the conduct was outside the AIC’s statement of purpose.”
例外情况包括：当某人利用人工智能运营公司“从事欺诈或任何蓄意违法行为”，或者“在成员明知或应知该行为超出AIC宗旨声明的情况下，促使或允许AIC开展业务”。
Citing Patibanda-Sanchez’s announcement, Comer wrote that an AI-run company would provide “the human or entity capitalizing the AIC with liability protections from potential harms to business partners, consumers, and the public, perpetrated by the controlling AI.”
科默援引帕蒂班达-桑切斯的声明写道，人工智能运营的公司将为“为AIC提供资本的人类或实体提供责任保护，使其免受受控人工智能对商业伙伴、消费者和公众造成的潜在伤害。”
A spokesperson for Gov. Meyer told Ars today that “we have received the letter and are in the process of reviewing it.” A spokesperson for Patibanda-Sanchez declined to comment, saying that the governor’s office is handling press requests on the matter.
迈耶州长的一位发言人今日告诉Ars：“我们已经收到这封信，目前正在审阅中。”帕蒂班达-桑切斯的一位发言人拒绝置评，称州长办公室正在处理有关此事的媒体询问。
Patibanda-Sanchez’s op-ed said Delaware’s planned regulatory sandbox will “pilot agentic commerce in daylight, under supervision, with capital tied to liability and the ability to shut a system down.” The 30-month testing period would give the state legislature “a full record for deciding how to legislate” AI-run companies, it said.
帕蒂班达-桑切斯的专栏文章称，特拉华州计划中的监管沙盒将“在监督下，在阳光下试点代理商业，并将资本与责任挂钩，同时具备关闭系统的能力。”文章称，30个月的测试期将为州立法机构提供“决定如何为人工智能运营公司立法”的完整记录。
A future state law allowing AI-operated companies would be especially impactful in Delaware, as about two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in the state.
未来允许人工智能运营公司的州法律在特拉华州将产生特别重大的影响，因为约三分之二的财富500强公司都在该州注册。
Although Elon Musk now prefers Texas, many corporations choose Delaware for its low corporate taxes and business-friendly legal framework.
尽管埃隆·马斯克现在更倾向于德克萨斯州，但许多公司仍因其低廉的企业税和对商业友好的法律框架而选择特拉华州。
Patibanda-Sanchez boasts that Delaware provides “the most predictable and business-focused legal home in the world,” and that 334,461 new entities were formed in Delaware in 2025.
帕蒂班达-桑切斯自豪地表示，特拉华州提供了“世界上最可预测且以商业为中心的法律家园”，并且2025年在特拉华州成立了334,461个新实体。
Patibanda-Sanchez collaborated on the sandbox plan with a private company that says it makes legal AI agents for businesses. “The framework for industry engagement with AICs is being developed in Delaware as part of a public-private partnership
帕蒂班达-桑切斯与一家声称能为企业制造法律人工智能代理的私营公司合作制定了沙盒计划。“特拉华州正在开发行业参与AIC的框架，作为公私合作伙伴关系的一部分。”