01 · The entity
What an AIC is
A proposed single-member Delaware entity that would be managed day to day by an AI agent, with the ability to transact within a defined business purpose.
Read the explainer Policy status · Draft stage · Not enacted
Delaware · Agentic AI · Corporate law
When AI can run a company, who is accountable?
Independent research on Delaware’s proposed Artificial Intelligence Company (AIC), its regulatory sandbox, the legislation behind it, and the opportunities and risks of autonomous business.
Research current through November 6, 2026 · Not legal advice
AI AGENTLEGAL ENTITYHUMAN MEMBEROVERSIGHTAGENT · AUTHORITY · ACCOUNTABILITY
2024Delaware AI Commission createdHB 333 · Enacted
2025Agentic AI sandbox framework directedHJR 7 · Enacted
36 pagesPublicly circulated AIC draft legislationDraft · June 2, 2026
2027Potential legislative considerationReported expectation · Not guaranteed
Start with the fundamentals
Delaware’s proposed AI company: a new legal role for autonomous software
The proposal is not simply about using AI software inside a company. It asks whether an AI agent could be given formal managerial authority over a separate legal entity.
02 · The experiment
How the sandbox works
The June draft sketches a supervised test program, with application review, specified regulatory exemptions, disclosures, reporting and exit plans.
Explore the sandbox03 · The safeguards
Risk, responsibility & trust
Liability allocation, capital adequacy, action logs and consumer safeguards are central—not secondary—to whether the model can work.
Review the risk registerCurrent policy status
What is real today—and what remains a proposal?
The legal starting point is H.J.R. 7, signed July 23, 2025. It directs the state AI Commission to work with the Secretary of State on a regulatory sandbox framework for technologies using agentic AI. A 36-page draft AIC / sandbox bill was circulated in June 2026. The latest reporting available for this update says the draft had not been sent forward to the Governor or General Assembly because the broader Commission still had questions.
View the full timelineAs of November 6, 2026
Draft under review. No AIC statute enacted.
The 153rd General Assembly has concluded. Reporting points to possible consideration in 2027, but no bill number, introduction date, or legislative schedule is established.
01
Enacted direction
AI Commission + Secretary of State tasked with designing a sandbox.
02
Draft legislative text
36 pages dated June 2, 2026; no introduced bill number.
03
Open scrutiny
House Oversight requested records by November 9, 2026.
A balanced view
What Delaware is trying to learn
Supporters see a way to make agentic commerce legible to law and regulators. Critics ask whether legal separateness could weaken accountability when an autonomous system causes harm.
Potential public value
- Build clearer legal rules for AI agents already taking actions in business workflows.
- Test bounded forms of autonomy with disclosure, capital and recordkeeping requirements.
- Attract company formations, expertise and investment to Delaware.
- Generate evidence for future legislation instead of regulating from theory alone.
Questions that need answers
- Who can stop an agent quickly—and who must be notified?
- Can capital requirements match the scale and speed of AI-caused harm?
- Will outsiders understand the legal entity, agent authority and liability allocation?
- Can oversight, public records and independent evaluation keep pace with the technology?
Related legal environment
Delaware’s wider AI policy context
The AIC proposal sits beside separate, enacted laws governing privacy, profiling and data security.
Enacted · 2024
Delaware AI Commission
H.B. 333 created a 23-member commission to advise on AI policy, public-sector use, rights and risk.
Official commission pageEnacted · Effective Jan 1, 2027
Personal Data Privacy Act amendments
H.B. 380 expands the privacy framework, including profiling and automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.
Official bill recordEnacted · April 23, 2026
AI and professional licensure
H.B. 191 bars nonhuman entities, including AI agents, from specified nursing, physician and physician-assistant credentials and from using listed professional titles. It is a targeted licensing rule, not a ban on healthcare AI.
Official bill recordEnacted · 2026
Computer security breach law
H.B. 381 amends Delaware’s breach-notification statute and clarifies notice obligations to the Attorney General.
Official bill recordTransparency & policy process
Who is shaping the proposal?
Policy design, outside expertise and public accountability are part of the story—not side issues.
Public reporting describes a public-private partnership led by Norm AI, announced in July 2026. Separately, Delaware Public Media reported that the state paid $10,000 to Nomos AI Inc. for consulting in September 2026; the outlet identified Nomos AI Inc. as Norm AI’s legal name. On October 26, 2026, the U.S. House Oversight Committee requested records concerning policy development, outside contributors, consulting and ethics agreements, safety assessments and draft language. These reported facts do not establish wrongdoing. They do make disclosure of roles, contracts, financial and professional interests, recusals and independent review material to public confidence. Read Delaware Public Media’s reporting · Read the Committee’s statement.
Read the policy-process analysisFrequently asked questions
Quick answers
Can I form a Delaware AIC today?
No. The AIC Act is a draft, not an enacted statute. The draft does not itself create a currently available filing category or open a sandbox application process.
Is the proposal the same as a chatbot running a business?
No. A chatbot may assist a human operator. The proposal contemplates a legal entity whose designated AI agent would hold the manager role and conduct business within the entity’s purpose and operating agreement.
Would an AIC’s owner have no liability at all?
No. The draft generally treats an AIC’s debts as the entity’s own, but its member must fund and maintain adequate capitalization and owes fiduciary duties of loyalty and care. The member can still be liable for using the AIC for fraud or a willful violation of law, or for allowing it to operate outside its stated purpose when the member knew or should have known. Sandbox participation would not confer blanket immunity from civil damages, state criminal law or consumer-protection law.
Does the draft exclude every kind of financial services business?
The draft’s express permitted-purpose clause says an AIC may have any lawful purpose except the business of banking as defined in Delaware Title 8. It does not use a blanket phrase excluding all financial services in that clause. Some reporting has summarized the restriction more broadly; separate licensing and regulatory laws may still constrain particular financial activities. See draft § 81-203.
When could lawmakers consider the proposal?
Reporting in 2026 anticipated possible introduction or consideration in 2027. That is an expectation, not a scheduled legislative action. The proposal may change, be delayed or fail to advance.