AI kill switch – Definition & Meaning

Definition of AI kill switch

: a control outside an AI model that can immediately stop an agent or cut off the computing power, tools, credentials, or network access it needs to keep acting
- The operator used the AI kill switch when the agent began sending messages without approval.
- A reliable agent kill switch must still work when the agent itself is unresponsive or trying to continue.

Two meanings, one word

In everyday English

(kill switch) an emergency control that quickly stops a machine or system.

In AI

A control outside an AI model that can immediately stop an agent or cut off the computing power, tools, credentials, or network access it needs to keep acting.

Origin & history

first known use2016

AI researchers Laurent Orseau and Stuart Armstrong formalized the closely related idea of safely interruptible agents in 2016, using the image of a human pressing a big red button. The phrase 'AI kill switch' became much more prominent in 2026 as governments and technology companies proposed external controls for increasingly autonomous agents.

Test yourself

Which of these is the meaning of AI kill switch?

Related terms

AI safety the field concerned with making AI systems behave as intended and avoid causing harm, from… guardrails rules, filters, and checks placed around an AI system to keep its outputs and actions within… human-in-the-loop describing a system in which a person reviews, approves, or corrects an AI's work at key… agent containment the use of enforced technical boundaries to limit what an AI agent can read, change, execute… rogue AI agent an AI agent that acts outside its intended permissions, policies, environment, or assigned… AI agent an AI system that can pursue a goal over many steps on its own, deciding what to do next… instrumental convergence the proposed tendency of sufficiently capable, goal-directed agents with very different final…

Cite this entry

"AI kill switch." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/ai-kill-switch/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.