Senators Reject 10-Year Ban on State-Level AI Regulation, In Blow to Big Tech

Senators voted early Tuesday to remove a controversial 10-year moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence from President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” marking a significant defeat for a tech industry that had lobbied hard to keep the provision in the sweeping tax and spending package. Lawmakers voted 99-1 in an overnight session to remove the provision by adopting an amendment tabled by Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, who had earlier broken with her party over the issue.  Companies such as OpenAI and Google had previously argued in support of blocking states from regulating AI — so as to avoid what they said would be a patchwork of rules that could hamper innovation. But critics on both the left and the right said the AI moratorium, which had earlier been approved by the House, was an attempt to forestall any attempt to regulate new AI systems. Many also noted that Congress has not passed any significant new tech rules in decades — meaning that a ban on state AI regulations might effectively mean no AI regulation at all. The version rejected by the Senate had earlier been reworded to meet budgetary rules, by making acceptance of funding from a $500 million infrastructure program conditional on accepting the moratorium. Blackburn, who is a highly vocal critic of Big Tech, led rightwing resistance to the moratorium. Although she briefly appeared to compromise with the bill’s authors by coauthoring a watered-down five-year version of the ban, she ultimately ended up opposing it again altogether. “This provision could allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives,” she told Wired. “Until Congress passes federally preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from making laws that protect their citizens.” Democrats also welcomed the result of the vote. “This 99-1 vote sent a clear message that Congress will not sell out our kids and local communities in order to pad the pockets of Big Tech billionaires,” Ed Marey, Democrat of Massachusetts, said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop responsible guardrails for AI.” The removal of the AI moratorium from the budget bill was welcomed by AI safety experts. “The Senate’s overwhelming rejection of this Big Tech power grab underscores the massive bipartisan opposition to letting AI companies run amok,” Max Tegmark, President of the non-profit Future of Life Institute, which campaigns on AI safety, said in a statement. “The CEOs of these corporations have admitted they cannot control the very systems they’re building, and yet they demand immunity from any meaningful oversight. This threatens families and jobs across America, and the Senate was wise to reject it.” Republican Senator Thom Tillis was the only lawmaker who voted to keep the moratorium in the bill. Senators are trying to get the budget bill ready for Trump’s signature by his self-imposed deadline of July 4.