The US Senate has voted to block a proposed 10-year ban on state-level AI regulation in the country. In a vote recorded on a US government website, senators approved an amendment to remove the moratorium from US President Donald Trump’s controversial tax-cut and spending bill.
According to Financial Times (FT), supporters of the AI proposal argued it would prevent a fragmented regulatory environment across US states that could compromise the country’s innovation and competitiveness against China.
However, the proposal exposed rifts in the Republican party as some lawmakers pushed back against limiting state authority over AI, arguing it was a rapidly evolving technology with potential economic and social impacts, FT reported.
As a result, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick offered a potential compromise, voicing support on social media platform X for a shorter, five-year restriction instead. “If we’re serious about winning the AI race, we must prioritise investment and innovation,” he stated.
The amendment to Trump’s bill was introduced by Republican senator Marsha Blackburn, who had previously suggested a similar compromise to shorten the moratorium to five years and allow limited state regulation, such as protections for artists and online child safety, provided it didn’t create a “disproportionate burden” on AI systems, Reuters noted.
However, Blackburn withdrew support for that proposition ahead of the amendment vote. “Blocking states from regulating AI without a national standard in place would hand another victory to greedy big tech companies who put profits over people,” she explained in a post on X.
Indeed, FT reported that critics including AI safety advocates warned that leaving the industry to self-regulate could lead to harmful consequences as companies race to deploy advanced models.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: Stock Image
