Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
The 10-year state AI pause may have made it past the Senate parliamentarian, but some Republicans are growing increasingly wary of backing the provision that critics say is dangerously broad.
Why it matters: The measure could dramatically change the policy landscape for states, putting broadband funding on the line and potentially overriding dozens of laws that tackle everything from deepfakes to using AI to harass people.
State of play: Backers and critics deeply disagree on two things — the breadth of laws that would fall under the pause and the amount of federal grant money that would be swept up by the provision.
- According to Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz's office, the new text "makes clear" that if a state wants to regulate AI in certain ways, it would not benefit from a $500 million pot of AI deployment grants.
- Specifically, states wouldn't be able to enforce any laws related to AI models, AI systems or "automated decision systems" for 10 years.
- Non-tech-specific laws — for example, for consumer protection or intellectual property — would not be affected, Cruz maintains.
What's next: If the reconciliation bill hits the Senate floor with this provision, expect a vote to remove it from the legislation.
- Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley and Rand Paul signed onto a letter on Wednesday calling for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to strip the language from the bill now, per a source familiar.
- If it makes it to the Senate floor and every Democrat votes to nix the AI pause, four Republicans would need to join them in order for an amendment to pass.
By the numbers: Twenty-eight states and the Virgin Islands have adopted or enacted over 75 new AI-related measures just this year, according to NCSL.
The other side: The $500 million would be administered under the same structure as the BEAD program, a $42 billion pot of money meant for broadband expansion.
- Advocates and Democrats say that the way the text is written, coupled with NTIA's BEAD program delay, mean that all of the federal broadband money would be affected.
- "The newly released language by Chair Cruz continues to hold $42 billion in BEAD funding hostage, forcing states to choose between protecting consumers and expanding critical broadband infrastructure to rural communities," Commerce Ranking Member Maria Cantwell said.
There's a fear that it's not just AI bills that would get caught up in Cruz's plan.
- The provision continues to be broad, and would sweep in state taxes on data centers, rideshare apps or online commerce, civil rights lawyer David Brody wrote in Tech Policy Press.
- Laws aimed at online crimes or robocall scams would also not be permitted, he said.
The intrigue: More prominent Republicans are speaking out against the ban, including Arkansas governor and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
- "Congress should strip this provision from the bill before it goes to President Trump's desk to preserve federalism — and protect our country from completely unregulated AI," Sanders wrote in the Washington Post on Thursday.
- "If Congress's glacial movement to protect kids from the harms of social media is any indication, the body would be paralyzed by industry lobbying and fail to act."
