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Language in the chamber’s spending bill says that state laws related to A.I. cannot pose an “undue or disproportionate burden” to tech companies.
June 30, 2025, 4:55 p.m. ET
Two senior senators have reached a compromise on an amendment in the Republican economic policy bill that would block state laws on artificial intelligence.
Senators Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, and Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, agreed late Sunday to decrease a proposed moratorium on state laws regulating the technology to five years from 10.
But Democratic lawmakers and consumer protection groups on Monday criticized new language in the amendment that would create a higher standard for the enforcement of existing tech-related state laws, including those for online child safety and consumer protections. Any current laws related to A.I. cannot pose an “undue or disproportionate burden” to A.I. companies, according to the amendment.
That broad language could allow tech companies — almost all of which are developing A.I. — to challenge existing state laws and regulations that apply to the use of a wide-range of automated technologies, legal experts said.
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Democrats and consumer protection groups warned that the new language could strip consumers of important protections provided by state laws aimed at warding off robocalls, regulating social media algorithms that steer users toward harmful content and prohibiting child sexual abuse imagery.
