CHICAGO—Governor JB Pritzker is creating a new cabinet to assess the various risks posed by artificial intelligence to the safety of Illinoisans.
Pritzker signed Executive Order 2026-07 Tuesday, establishing the Illinois Artifical Intelligence (AI) Cabinet, comprised of a broad cross-sector of experts from academia, law, ethics, governance and more.
As artificial intelligence continues to rapidly advance, the Illinois AI Cabinet will advise state government on preparing for and responding to AI-related incidents. It will also identify safeguards for public assets and infrastructure, and evaluate additional steps the state can take to strengthen AI safety and accountability. The governor will seek input from state agency leaders and announce members of the cabinet in the coming weeks.
"Artificial intelligence has enormous potential to transform our everyday lives, but when experts and industry leaders sound the alarm bell, urge us to slow down, and ask for guardrails, we should listen," Governor JB Pritzker said at the signing. "Illinois has already enacted nation-leading laws that hold Big Tech accountable, and today I'm taking executive action to keep this a priority. Congress and the White House need to treat AI risks with urgency, but in the meantime, Illinois won't wait because it is our foremost responsibility to prepare and protect Illinoisians."
The executive order comes in response to the lack of action from Congress and the White House amid the resignation of yet another whistleblower within the AI industry. Pritzker said he is again taking proactive steps after signing nation-leading AI regulations into law this summer. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Measures Act creates a framework placed for AI safety, accountability, and transparency.
This framework will implement risk identification, disclosure, and mitigation requirements on the largest AI developers in the state, including making Illinois the first state to require annual independent independent audits. It also places Illinois among the first to provide protections for workers who report safety concerns—an essential safeguard as safety concerns rise in the very development hubs where AI continues to evolve.
"[AI] should be among the top priorities, but don't misunderstand, it is dangerous and it's dangerous on the level of nuclear weapons," Pritzker said on ABC's Sunday morning news show. "So that's why it needs to be an international endeavor."
The AI Cabinet will focus on strategic planning, safety of residents and incident preparedness, protection of public assets and infrastructure, and feasibility and policy evaluation.
Read the complete executive order.
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