The US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Earlier on Thursday, U.S. House lawmakers passed a small budget bill that bars states from enacting laws regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years if enacted.
In most party-affiliated votes, between 215 and 214, House Republicans approved the so-called “one big, beautiful” bill, or HR 1.
If the law is signed through a process known as a settlement, a 10-year suspension on state AI law marks one of the most important federal actions on technology policy in decades.
Moratorium supporters say they will stop the chaotic patchwork of state laws that have been born nationwide and give Congressional space to create their own AI laws while retaining American leadership. Opponents call it a dangerous giveaway for tech companies that protect and wipe out consumers, particularly vulnerable communities and children, to protect and clean up state law gusts of winds that address everything from discrimination in automated employment.
Now the bill has moved to the Senate, and its fate is extremely uncertain. Democrats are expected to challenge Republicans’ inclusion of AI moratoriums in the settlement package, called the Bird Rules, which prohibits the inclusion of provisions that are “unrelated” to the federal budget in the settlement process.
House Republicans have pushed the measure into a section that orders the commercial sector to “develop funds to modernize and protect federal information technology systems through the deployment of commercial artificial intelligence. The measure has largely changed since consideration by the House Energy Commerce Committee earlier this month, but recently House committee members have added a recent exemption to prevent moratoriums from being applied to enforcement of “criminal penalties.”
The push, widely rejected by Democrats, also faces opposition from some Senate Republicans. During a Senate hearing Wednesday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) poured cold water on the idea, expressing concern that the bill would override the law to protect artists from deepfakes in her state.
“I would like to talk about America and their actions and mention that Tennessee has passed Elvis laws, like our first generation No-Fakes Act,” Blackburn said.
According to Punchbowl, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also pushed back the proposal.
The measure was discussed at a House Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday after moving forward from the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week.
“The patchwork of various state laws is not good for innovation for businesses and consumers, and that’s what we’re trying to avoid,” Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-IN) said Wednesday.
“Undoubtedly, families who came to this committee and asked us to act will not benefit from this proposal,” Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) added during the subcommittee hearing. “But who do you know? The CEO of a major high-tech guy who’s sitting behind Donald Trump when he took office.”
The measure is supported by business groups such as the high-tech industry and the US Chamber of Commerce and several free market think tanks. It is opposed by dozens of state lawmakers and the Attorney General, including both Democrats and Republicans, as well as many civil society organisations focusing on technology policy and consumer rights.
“Cost and contradictory regulations are a sure recipe for destroying technological revolutions and destroying small innovators,” Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, testified to the House Subcommittee on Wednesday. “AI Moratorium provides a sensible way to address this issue by giving innovators some breathing space and ensuring the development of a robust national AI market.” Thierer proposed the idea for the moratorium in a post on the R Street website last year.
Another witness at the hearing, Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, took a different perspective.
“This is an industry that once deceived us, and we can’t fool us again with AI in this environment. The proposal for a radical suspension on state AI-related laws really flies in the face of common sense,” she said. “We can’t handle the worst players in the industry with child gloves while exposing everyday people, workers and children to terrible harm.”
