# Hole card — Thune–Klobuchar–Cruz 2026 AI draft

```text
id: draft-unofficial-thune-klobuchar-cruz-2026
label: draft-unofficial
bill_number: none
print: none
sponsors_reported: Thune, Klobuchar, Cruz
status: negotiation; not introduced as of 2026-09-16
primary_text: none
do_not: quote provisions as if they were in an instrument
ancestor_print: AIRIA (118th Congress) — separate brick if milled; NOT this draft
reporting_sources: Politico 2026-09-11; Reuters via secondary 2026-09-12; Axios 2026-09-14; Nextgov; Washington Times
conflicts_in_coverage:
  - block-release / court vs no pre-approval / labs decide without injunction
  - voluntary testing vs government verification
  - Cantwell national-lab vetting preference (not a sponsor of this draft)
```

## Finding (2026-09-16)

**There is no instrument to mill.**

- No S. number  
- No GovInfo HTML  
- No discussion-draft PDF on Thune’s, Cruz’s, or Klobuchar’s official sites  
- Press is working from aides; outlets **do not agree** with each other  

## Ancestor only (do not treat as the 2026 draft)

Last public Thune–Klobuchar instrument often cited: **Artificial Intelligence Research, Innovation, and Accountability Act (AIRIA)**, 118th Congress (Commerce-passed July 2024). Coverage of 2026 talks says the new bill is *informed by* AIRIA and is “a fundamentally different bill.”

If AIRIA is milled later, it is a **separate** brick. It is **not** a substitute for this missing 2026 draft.

## Secondhand claims (NOT for brick.md)

| Claim | Coverage quality | Conflict |
|---|---|---|
| Legal duty of care on frontier developers to mitigate catastrophic harm (bio, cyber) | Multiple aides → POLITICO / Reuters | — |
| Disclose capability jumps to Commerce; mitigation; Secretary verification path | POLITICO (two people) | — |
| Government can block a release; lab can go to court | Reuters / secondary | POLITICO: without injunction labs still decide; “not a pre-approval regime” |
| Preempt some state AI laws | POLITICO (four people) | Scope unspecified |
| Testing mostly voluntary | Nextgov (Democratic aide on Cruz–Thune–Klobuchar version) | Klobuchar public line: work with government experts to verify/test |
| Cantwell prefers national-lab / agency vetting | Nextgov | Not a sponsor of this draft |
| “Light touch,” Commerce standards for “critical-impact” systems, NIST sector guidance | Thune to press; Wash. Times tying to AIRIA update | May be AIRIA language leaking into coverage of a new bill |

Thune (14–15 Sept 2026): still negotiating with Klobuchar, working with Cruz, hopes to reintroduce “soon.” **Not introduced.**

## Shelf rule

When an **IS print** drops: mill that version brick and **retire or supersede** this hole card.  
Until then: **honest answer = there is no published bill.**

## Watch priority (P0)

External model reviews (Gemini / others, mid-Sept 2026) flag this draft as the most closely watched unreleased package on the Hill. That raises mill priority — it does **not** create text. Still no brick.md until GovInfo/Congress.gov carries an introduced print.