Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Measures related to AI, countering China and more made it into the year-end spending package unveiled Tuesday night.
Why it matters: The year started off with lofty tech ambitions, and the continuing resolution was the last opportunity to get anything done before the new Congress.
- The CR will fund the government through March 14.
What's inside: The spending bill includes the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which requires platforms to remove deepfake pornography of children within 48 hours of being notified by the victim.
- The Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act is also included and is aimed at restricting U.S. money flowing to China's tech sector.
- Other bills to secure chip supply chains, protect U.S. telecommunications networks from China, and require the FCC to establish a 6G task force were included.
- Legislation to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was also included.
Many tech agencies will remain underfunded despite having more work than ever to spearhead research, set up guardrails for powerful AI models, and launch litigation against tech giants.
- The National Science Foundation, the Justice Department's antitrust division and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are among the agencies hoping to get more money when lawmakers finalize FY25 appropriations next year.
The CR does not include additional bills to regulate AI, which bill sponsors had fought for.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last week said he and House Speaker Mike Johnson had agreed to get AI legislation done before the end of this year, but after the elections Senate Republicans chose to walk away and abandon more than a year of work.
- Ultimately, there was little appetite to make any big swings before Republicans' incoming sweep of Washington.
Despite robust efforts and overwhelming support in the Senate, advocates for the Kids Online Safety Act and COPPA 2.0 did not succeed in attaching the bills to the spending measure.
- House leaders are looking to take on a new approach in the next Congress.
Our thought bubble: The heads of tech agencies including NIST and NSF have been on the Hill this year warning that cuts will hurt work to outcompete Beijing and make it difficult to protect existing federal staff.
- It's not clear yet how the Department of Government Efficiency, President-elect Trump's advisory commission led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, could impact efforts aimed at fostering innovation and competing with China.
What's next: Lawmakers face a Friday night deadline to pass the bill and keep the government open.
