September 24, 2026 3:05 a.m. 

On Wednesday, Governor Tina Kotek issued an executive order Executive Order 26-26, Establishing Responsible Artificial Intelligence Procurement Standards for State Government in order to advance new safeguards and oversight on frontier AI models.

A release from the governor’s office said EO 26-26 directs the State’s Chief Information Officer to develop standards or criteria for adequate third-party review for AI safety. The Governor’s executive action also directs the state to assess the viability of a “kill switch” requirement for frontier AI models.

Governor Kotek said, “It’s encouraging to hear AI companies are beginning to come forward with proposals to address safety concerns, but we cannot simply wait for the private sector to self-regulate a technology that poses such an existential and evolving risk.” Governor Kotek said, “We must act with urgency to address this issue, and I am committed to doing everything in my executive authority to put safeguards in place until the Oregon Legislature and Congress can pass comprehensive standards for AI companies that wish to bring their products to market here.”

The release said Oregon has already established statewide requirements for responsible AI use across the executive branch, including risk management, human accountability, transparency and oversight. The new executive order builds on that work by directing the state to develop additional safeguards specifically for the procurement and use of frontier AI models.

The executive order takes effect immediately.

The full text of EO 26-26 is available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FHCBOBdcaUNZ3_Zg2WxtSXZpYzP8tk1h/view