Report from Politico
In Brief – The White House is reportedly engaged in negotiations with Big Tech critics to craft a bill that combines three years of federal preemption of some state AI laws with social media and AI regulatory proposals that have been tied up in Congress for years. The effort includes talks with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a Big Tech antagonist, and child safety advocates to gauge their willingness to support a package that includes Blackburn’s Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) that regulates how digital platforms serve teens and the App Store Accountability Act requiring app stores to verify user ages and app developers to restrict services by age. Sen. Blackburn, a backer of the NO FAKES Act that creates a federal right of publicity allowing individuals to protect their voice and visual likeness from digital replicas, is pressing to include it as well. The child safety groups are asking for additional measures, such as the GUARD Act or other regulation of AI chatbots. The preemption of state laws would not cover all AI regulations but only state regulations addressing the same issues as the new federal law.
Context – Tech backing of President Trump dramatically increased in response to the antagonism of the Biden years. AI development and deregulation has been a top priority of the second Trump Administration who pitch it as critical to competing with China. Ironically, while even the EU has begun to dial back AI regulation, some US states are moving in the other direction. The White House has pushed a moratorium on state AI laws but it has been blocked by united Democratic opposition backed by enough Republican tech critics, including Blackburn. Proposals like KOSA and online age verification have been stymied for by free speech, privacy, and civil liberties advocates, as well as conservative critics of EU-style tech regulation. Similar opposition on the left and right, as well as likely Democratic interest in keeping AI regulation on the political front burner, will test any new deal. An earlier Blackburn AI proposal included sunsetting Sec. 230, so backers of this offer are probably saying to non-AI tech companies, “It could be worse”.