Report from Roll Call
In Brief – Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a leading Republican critic of Big Tech companies, has released a nearly 300-page draft of federal AI regulation. Titled the “TRUMP AMERICA AI Act”, it preempts state AI laws in place of federal regulation, a top priority of the Administration, and includes other AI policies backed by the President, including requiring AI companies to cover data center energy costs, and countering political bias in government AI systems. The measure notably incorporates several long-time priorities of the Senate’s top Big Tech critics, including the Kids Online Safety Act, the NO FAKES Act, imposing a “duty of care” on both AI developers and online platforms that requires them to mitigate foreseeable harms, particularly to minors, and a controversial proposal to sunset Section 230 within two years. Finally, the draft proposes federal oversight of advanced AI risks, audits of so-called high-risk AI systems, and reports on the impact of AI on the national workforce.
Context – The second Trump Administration has pitched AI development as a national imperative to compete with China and its leaders often criticizes fear-based “AI safety” regulation. Ironically, while even the EU, home of the AI Act, has begun slightly dialing back AI regulation, a growing number of US states are moving in the other direction. Last year, the Trump Administration tried to push a five-year moratorium on state AI regulation through Congress, but several Republicans, including Sen. Blackburn, joined united Democrats to block the effort. The President issued an executive order in December to counter “onerous and excessive” state AI measures but authority to block state laws is limited. As talk in Congress increases, the White House has released a framework for a “minimally burdensome” national AI policy. Despite the appearance of bipartisan backing for many tech bills, razor thin margins between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and sincere policy disagreements between and within the parties, have stymied legislation on issues like social media, Sec. 230, privacy and encryption. Combining long-time anti-Big Tech initiatives with divisive AI regulation seems a bold strategy, we’ll see if it pays off.