Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
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Title: House passes budget bill that inexplicably bans state AI regulations
for ten years

Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 18:49:36 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/house-passe...

The US House of Representatives just narrowly passed a budget bill, which has
been referred to by President Trump and others as "one big, beautiful bill."
Hidden amongst the cuts to health care, debt add-ons and tax breaks for the
rich is a ten-year ban of state AI laws. You read that right. States would be
banned by the federal government from enforcing laws that regulate AI for the
next decade.

The vote fell largely along party lines, with nearly every Republican member
of the House approving the bill. This marks one of the most significant
federal actions on technology policy in decades and it was buried in a budget
bill that has nothing to do with AI.

This isn't law just yet. The budget bill has to pass through the Senate and
it could have a difficult road. It's expected that Democratic lawmakers will
challenge the AI regulation ban under what's called the Byrd Rule, which
prohibits "extraneous" provisions to the federal budget during the
reconciliation process.

HereΓÇÖs the moment from Sen. Blackburn pushing back on the idea of a state
AI moratorium. https://t.co/bx0dbL2qmL pic.twitter.com/kAnl0sjudW

ΓÇö Zamaan Qureshi (@zamaan_qureshi) May 21, 2025

Even some Senate Republicans seem wary of the ban. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of
Tennessee expressed concern that it would override state legislation that
protects artists from deepfakes in her state. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri
has also pushed back on the idea on the grounds that it could "tamp down on
people's efforts to address" issues posed by AI.

Supporters of the ban argue that it would stop a potentially confusing
patchwork of differing state AI laws until Congress can craft its own federal
legislation. This is pretty odd coming from the "states' rights" crowd, but
whatever.

Opponents, like many Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations like the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, call it a dangerous giveaway to big tech
firms, as these companies stand to benefit the most from a completely
unregulated market. They also say it poses a serious danger to Americans, as
it would leave the citizenry unprotected from any associated risk. Current
state laws address issues including deepfakes and discrimination in automated
hiring.

ΓÇ£Make no mistake, the families who have come to this committee and begged
for us to act won't benefit from this proposal,ΓÇ¥ said Democratic Rep. Lori
Trahan during a subcommittee hearing on the matter. ΓÇ£But you know who will?
The big tech CEOs who are sitting behind Donald Trump at his inauguration."

Rightfully, the cuts to Medicaid (over 10M people will lose their health
care) and the tax cuts for the rich have been the story of the disastrous
Republican budget bill.

But I read the whole thing. And there are some hidden rats in there you need
to know about.

1/ A quick🧵

— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 20, 2025

The budget bill, as passed by the House, also includes cuts to Medicaid
totaling an estimated $625 billion and cuts to SNAP, otherwise called food
stamps, totaling $300 billion. It could also force $500 billion in cuts to
Medicare, which serves senior citizens, as a byproduct of adding nearly $4
trillion to the national deficit. It also ends the EV tax credit. All of this
pays for an extension and expansion of previous tax cuts that
disproportionately favor high-income earners.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/house-passes-budget-bill-that-inexplicably-bans-state-ai-regulations-for-
ten-years-184936210.html?src=rss

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