HR 8323
SOUL Act of 2026
TL;DR
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced the SOUL Act of 2026, which would establish that artificial intelligence systems cannot have legal personhood or the rights that come with it. The bill is a preemptive move to block AI from being treated as a legal 'person' under federal law, meaning AI cannot own property, enter contracts, or be held liable in its own name. It's currently sitting in the House Judiciary Committee.
How This Might Impact Your Business
Companies deploying AI agents (autonomous purchasing bots, AI contract negotiators, AI trading systems) would remain fully liable for their AI's actions, since the AI itself cannot be a legal party.
Contracts 'signed' or 'agreed to' by AI agents may face enforceability questions, requiring a human or corporate entity to be the named party on all agreements.
Financial services firms using autonomous AI trading or lending decision tools cannot offload liability to the AI system; the firm remains the responsible legal actor.
Legal tech, insurtech, and fintech startups building 'AI as a party' products may need to rearchitect around human-in-the-loop or corporate wrapper structures.
No penalties, fees, or reporting requirements are created; this is a definitional statute, not a regulatory one.
Intellectual property strategy is affected: AI cannot be listed as an inventor, author, or rights-holder, reinforcing existing USPTO and Copyright Office positions.
Applies across all industries and company sizes since it defines federal legal status rather than regulating a specific sector.
What Should You Do
Ask your general counsel to review any contracts, terms of service, or workflows where an AI system is treated as a signing party or decision-maker of record.
Confirm your AI governance policy names a human or legal entity as accountable for every automated decision, especially in hiring, lending, and procurement.
If your product markets AI as an 'agent' or 'autonomous party,' revise messaging to reflect that liability sits with your company or the user, not the AI.
Track the bill through the House Judiciary Committee; given a single sponsor and no cosponsors listed, movement is unlikely in the near term but worth monitoring quarterly.
Flag to your IP team that AI-generated inventions and works still require human authorship or inventorship for federal protection.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
committee
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
April 16, 2026