A 5-YEAR ‘AI MORATORIUM’ WILL BE WORTH IT FOR AMERICAN TECH LEADERSHIP
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US Senate launched into a “vote-a-rama” on President Trump’s sweeping tax proposal Monday, kicking off what’s expected to be a lengthy voting session for the “Big Beautiful Bill”. Lawmakers debated the bill late into Sunday night and haggled over details, including the provision of an “AI Moratorium” that would freeze state legislation on artificial intelligence for a period of time. Senator Martha Blackburn (R-Tenn) has agreed not to challenge the moratorium by securing a deal to limit it to five years.
Yaël Ossowski of the Consumer Choice Center praised the legislative compromise and the inclusion of a moratorium on state-based AI rulemaking:
“The AI moratorium is the best way to shield millions of American consumers from California and New York’s over-the-top AI regulations. Do we really want to have one-party states with deep blue legislatures setting rules for the whole country on AI innovation and consumer products? That’s how the EU works, and it’s going to set Europe back a generation in terms of technology. We should go the other way.”
[[ More from CCC on the case for an AI Moratorium ]]
Landmark AI bills have been passed in several states across the union, ranging from more restrictive ones in California and Colorado to more lenient measures in Texas and Florida. There are at least 1,000 state bills related to AI regulation in motion in the U.S. The Blackburn-Cruz agreement on AI is attached to $500 million in funding for AI deployment as part of the broadband program. States and localities that want to receive such funds would have to comply with the federal moratorium.
“When the most populous states like California make regulatory rules that differ from smaller states, say South Dakota or Kansas, companies that wish to promote their goods and services across the entire country will simply default to California rules. You’ll have the most tech-alarmist states deciding for the entire country to freeze American innovation in amber,” added Ossowski.
This is commonly referred to as the California Spillover Effect, a concept that the Consumer Choice Center has also explained in other areas, including energy policy.
Ossowski concluded, “A federal AI moratorium on state rulemaking is a prudent way to allow the United States to capture the benefits before we’re deprived of them.”
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The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, non-partisan consumer advocacy group that champions the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org
