Argentina Drafts Companies Run by Software. Who Pays?
Javier Milei has promised the UN that Argentina will not regulate AI preventively. His company-law bill would let firms run on AI systems with no staff, but it leaves open who answers when they cause harm.
The Palacio del Congreso de la Nación Argentina in Buenos Aires, where the Senate is weighing the companies bill.
In an address to the 81st UN General Assembly on 23 September 2026, Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, promised “el compromiso de no regular de manera preventiva”, plus “responsabilidad limitada para las empresas que operen con agentes de IA y beneficios fiscales” (in Spanish). The vehicle is before the Senate: a companies law letting firms run on AI systems with no employees. Whether that draws investment or shields wrongdoing turns on a question the bill, as reported, leaves open: who pays when such a company does damage.
What the Bill Would Create, and Where It Stands
The government sent the bill, which would replace the Ley General de Sociedades 19.550 of 1972, to the Senate at the start of June, Parlamentario reported; it runs to 277 articles, according to Infobae, and is signed by Milei, cabinet chief Manuel Adorni and justice minister Juan Bautista Mahiques (Spanish-language sources throughout; translations by AI & GPP). A “Sociedad Automatizada” is any company type that carries out its business through autonomous algorithmic systems or AI agents without employees for ordinary operations. A “Sociedad Descentralizada Autónoma Operativa (D.A.O.)” is a wholly or partly autonomous company governed by its founding instrument or protocol. Ámbito adds that automation must be declared in the statutes and the company’s name must carry the word “Automatizada”.
Federico Sturzenegger, the deregulation minister, was due to defend it before the Senate’s Comisión de Legislación General on 24 June, Parlamentario reported. On 26 August the committee heard further specialists, some supportive, some critical, and adjourned again, Parlamentario reported. By 11 September the bill had lost support: governing-bloc and allied sources privately expected the debate to stall amid global alarm over AI risks, and some senators said they would not back the automated-company provisions, Infobae reported. A government source said the bill remains available when senators want it. AI & GPP could not find the bill in the Senate’s online record, so provisions below are as reported.
The Liability Question, Reported Three Ways
The one clause outlets quote directly says the automated company “responde con su patrimonio frente a terceros” for damage caused by its AI systems, per Parlamentario: it answers to third parties with its own assets. On owners’ liability no outlet quotes the bill, and two reports from the same agency, EFE, describe the promised limited liability differently. Criterio’s EFE report says it still lets claimants pursue owners’ personal assets and criminal charges where harm was intended. An EFE dispatch carried by CNN Chile says it confines exposure to contributed assets, which would fall short for unforeseeable AI harms. In August Patricia Bullrich, the governing bloc’s Senate leader, took a firmer line, saying the bloc and allies were weighing making automated companies’ liability “mucho más pétrea” by tying it to natural persons; no new text was specified, Infobae reported. Ámbito adds that even with a named human responsible, proving fault or intent could be hard.
| Question | What the bill says (as reported) | What is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays third parties? | The company, from its own assets | Mandatory insurance or minimum capital |
| Who is personally liable? | Described differently by EFE: owners reachable for intended harm (Criterio); exposure capped at contributions (CNN Chile) | A named jointly liable human body |
| Who can switch it off? | Not specified | A kill switch |
| Who supervises? | Ordinary company regulators | A dedicated oversight body; access to code |
The Case For, and the Case Against
The government frames the reform as modernisation, Ámbito notes. In a Financial Times column Milei set out three pillars: no AI regulation, a legal category for companies run by AI agents and a competitive tax regime, Chequeado reported.
Ámbito says the bill draws on academic work by Satellogic chief executive Emiliano Kargieman, whose design included oversight bodies, insurance, a jointly liable human committee and a kill switch; the bill did not take them up. Oscar Soria, co-founder of the think-tank The Common Initiative, told EFE the bill creates a “laboratorio de impunidad artificial”, Criterio reports.
What Wyoming Shows, and What to Watch Next
The Wyoming Decentralized Autonomous Organization Supplement requires a DAO, a form of limited liability company, to keep a registered agent in the state, list in its articles a public identifier for the smart contracts it uses and state how far its management is algorithmic (sections 104 to 106). In this desk’s reading, those disclosure duties are a floor senators should ask for.
Watch three things: whether the committee report adds insurance, a shut-down power and a named liable person; whether the promised tax incentives appear in the bill or separately; and whether neighbours follow. Chile is moving away from Europe’s risk-based model, while Mexico’s Congress is still trying to unify a patchwork of state AI laws. Argentina goes further than either: it changes what a company can be.
Sources
- Discurso del Presidente Javier Milei ante la 81.ª sesión de la Asamblea General de la ONU en Nueva York — Casa Rosada — 23 September 2026; primary (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- El Gobierno envió al Senado el proyecto de una nueva Ley de Sociedades — Parlamentario — 1 June 2026 (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Sturzenegger asistirá este miércoles al Senado a defender la reforma de la Ley de Sociedades — Parlamentario — 23 June 2026 (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Especialistas expusieron en el Senado sobre la reforma integral de la Ley General de Sociedades — Parlamentario — 26 August 2026; (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Javier Milei impulsa proyecto para crear empresas sin trabajadores y expertos advierten sobre un plan de “impunidad artificial” — Ámbito — 28 September 2026 (paywall; in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Milei y su plan de crear un “laboratorio de impunidad artificial” con empresas sin humanos — Criterio — 27 September 2026; EFE report (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- “No se puede tratar”: ante la alerta global por la IA, el Gobierno pierde apoyo para impulsar un proyecto clave en el Congreso — Infobae — 11 September 2026; (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Milei promete ante la ONU poca regulación y beneficios fiscales para empresas de inteligencia artificial — CNN Chile (EFE) — date not shown on page (reports the 23 September speech) (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Reforma de la Ley de Sociedades: qué son las DAO y las sociedades automatizadas y cuáles son los riesgos que advierten especialistas — Chequeado — 5 June 2026 (in Spanish; translation by AI & GPP)
- Wyoming Statutes Title 17, Chapter 31: Wyoming Decentralized Autonomous Organization Supplement — Wyoming Legislature — current compilation as published; primary (PDF)
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