State-level AI rules survive — for now — as Senate sinks moratorium despite White House pressure
The Senate is quietly winning the battle over states’ abilities to craft their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, but there is still a desire to chart out a rough framework...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Senate is quietly winning the battle over states’ abilities to craft their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, but there is still a desire to chart out a rough framework at the federal level. The issue of a blanket AI moratorium, which would have halted states from crafting their own AI regulations, was thought to have been put to bed over the summer. But the push was again revived by House Republicans, who were considering dropping it into the annual National Defense Authorization Act. However, Republicans in the lower chamber have pulled back from that push, even as the White House has pressed Congress to create a federal framework that would make regulations more cohesive across the country. LAWMAKERS UNVEIL BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT AFTER PARENTS BLAME AI CHATBOTS FOR TEEN SUICIDES, VIOLENCE A trio of Senate Republicans, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who banded together to block the original proposal, cheered the provision's apparent rise from the grave. Hawley told Fox News Digital that it was good news that the provision would not be included in the defense authorization bill, but warned that "vigilance is needed, and Congress needs to act." "I mean, for everybody out there saying, ‘Well, Congress needs to act and create one standard,’ I agree with that," he said. "And we can start by banning chat bots for minors." Sen. Ted Cruz , R-Texas, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, initially pushed for a moratorium to be included in Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill. His position on the issue has been to unchain AI to give the U.S. a competitive edge against foreign adversaries like China. But that attempt was nearly unanimously defeated over the summer and stripped from the bill. And Cruz hasn’t given up. "The discussions are ongoing, but it is the White House that is driving," Cruz told Fox News Digital. PROTECTING KIDS FROM AI CHATBOTS: WHAT THE GUARD ACT MEANS S…