Congress could ban state AI regulation for a decade. These state lawmakers say no way.
Misinformation, job loss, nonconsensual deepfakes – these are just a few of the issues state lawmakers have to contend with in a world where artificial intelligence becomes more and more prevalent in our daily lives.
However, there's one big problem. The federal budget reconciliation bill may make it impossible for state lawmakers to deal with the many issues brought about by AI.
Why? Because President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill (yes, that's really what it's called) includes a highly controversial provision that outright bans any AI regulation for 10 years at the state and local level.
That means the bill would tie lawmakers' hands in all 50 states, preventing them from taking any action to regulate this growing industry even as it affects their states' economies and their constituents' lives.
According to a new report from StateScoop, state lawmakers from all 50 states are now coming together to push back against this provision in the federal budget reconciliation bill. In total, more than 260 state legislators have signed on to a letter to Congress voicing their opposition to the 10-year ban on AI regulation.
The letter was spearheaded by both South Carolina Rep. Brandon Guffey and South Dakota Sen. Liz Larson. Notably, Rep. Guffey is a Republican and Sen. Larson is a Democrat, showing that the opposition to this AI regulation ban is a bipartisan one.
Supports of the AI regulation ban provision claim that its necessary in order to prevent a "fragmented regulatory landscape," which would harm the industry and give China an unfair advantage in the space over U.S. tech companies.
And it appears at least some of the president's supporters in Congress are changing their tune on the bill.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the far-right Republican Congresswoman from Georgia, announced on X that she opposes the AI regulation ban provision, though she already voted in favor of the big, beautiful bill.
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"Full transparency, I did not know about this section on pages 278-279 of the OBBB that strips states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years," Rep. Greene posted on X. "I am adamantly OPPOSED to this and it is a violation of state rights and I would have voted NO if I had known this was in there."
Rep. Greene went on to state that the effects of this bill can be "potentially dangerous" and said she will not vote for the bill when it comes back to the House of Representatives if this provision is still included.
Trump's big, beautiful bill passed the House and now heads to the Senate, where Rep. Greene said she hopes this provision is stripped.
The CEO of AI company Anthropic recently warned that governments aren't taking the threat of AI seriously enough and that there is a real lack of action in preparing for what's to come. In addition, a poll conducted last month by research firm Echelon Insights, on behalf of Common Sense Media, found that 59 percent of registered voters opposed banning AI regulation for states.