When Congress reconvenes after the Thanksgiving break, it will continue to debate artificial intelligence and whether the federal government should repeal and replace all state laws governing new technologies. There is growing opposition from Texas.
Texas Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) joined several of her colleagues in the Texas Senate to write a letter to Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn arguing that “if an AI moratorium is implemented, important efforts to prevent child pornography, protect data privacy, prevent discrimination, and hold big tech companies accountable in Texas will become meaningless.”
Earlier this spring, the Texas Legislature passed a far-reaching AI law aimed at fostering innovation through “sandbox” programs while providing basic consumer protections. The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) establishes several things. It prohibits governments from using technology for “social scoring” to incite self-harm, violence, or criminal behavior.
Texas law requires consent before capturing biometric data, putting law enforcement programs like ClearView AI, which collects photos from the internet and matches them to real-world faces without consent, at risk.
“I think the big tech lobbyists and CEOs don’t want to deal with every state that’s trying to pass meaningful reform. They just want to funnel a lot of money to Washington, D.C., and set the standards there,” said Brendan Steinhauser of The Alliance for Secure AI.
Steinhauser told NBC that while Congress is too often mired in controversy and partisanship, DFW must protect its citizens and lead the way in this area.
A new poll released Friday night, conducted by YouGov in collaboration with the conservative Family Research Institute, found that adults surveyed oppose preemptive Congressional policy on AI by a 3-to-1 margin.
“This is an issue that has overwhelming support among the American people. This is kind of an 80% issue. 80% of the people want meaningful reform. They want protections and protections,” Steinhauser said.
Congress is debating whether to repeal all state AI laws when it passes next year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
Non-defense-related amendments are often attached to bills because lawmakers view the NDAA as a must-pass bill and use it to include measures that would otherwise face more intense opposition.
Proponents of the idea argue that companies don’t have to deal with a “patchwork” of state regulations that slow the process. Proponents of state regulation argue that federal efforts to control AI are too slow and that some regulation is needed given the significant emerging issues surrounding the technology.
American tech companies are among the most profitable in the world and are in public competition with China to develop artificial intelligence. Prominent supporters of the federal government’s preemptive efforts include White House AI czar David Sachs and several Silicon Valley venture capital backers.
“The 50-state patchwork is a startup killer. Federal AI law is essential,” Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, wrote in the X on Tuesday night, following Sachs’ post.
But hours later, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis denounced efforts to block states from passing laws governing AI. Writing in X, DeSantis argued that federal preemption “takes away our sovereignty” and that “sneaking it into a defense bill is an insult to voters.”
The Trump administration, influenced by several tech giants, has endorsed this idea, with the president writing online: “Investment in AI is helping make the US economy the ‘hottest’ in the world, but overregulation by countries threatens to undermine this growth engine.”
President Trump supported banning national AI regulation, writing, “Put it in the NDAA or pass another bill and no one will be able to compete with America.”
As The Information first reported, the fight over who should regulate AI shifted into a new gear Wednesday night with the leak of a draft executive order aimed at pre-empting state AI regulation. The order remains in draft form and may not be signed by President Trump. The draft order would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to establish a task force to target the state’s AI laws. The task force will argue that the states’ AI measures violate the federal government’s sole authority to regulate interstate commerce, among other grounds for challenging the law.
It is unclear whether President Trump will sign the draft order, which was first reported by The Information, or how seriously it is being considered.
The White House did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Sen. Ted Cruz introduced a similar preemptive bill earlier this year, but that idea died in the Republican tax cuts and spending bill. The Senate rejected Mr. Cruz’s effort in July by a vote of 99-1.
