House passes budget bill that inexplicably bans state AI regulations for ten years<p>The US House of Representatives <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:CNBC;elmt:;cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=34e37b9c-8975-48da-aa39-df8bcd5badc3&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&contentUuid=895fe9d0-f7f6-4a12-80e5-da5013d4da4f&featureId=text-link&merchantName=CNBC&linkText=just+narrowly+passed+a+budget+bill&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5jbmJjLmNvbS8yMDI1LzA1LzIyL3RydW1wLXRheC1iaWxsLXBhc3Nlcy10aGUtaG91c2UtYWR2YW5jZXMtdG8tc2VuYXRlLmh0bWwiLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6Ijg5NWZlOWQwLWY3ZjYtNGExMi04MGU1LWRhNTAxM2Q0ZGE0ZiIsIm9yaWdpbmFsVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY25iYy5jb20vMjAyNS8wNS8yMi90cnVtcC10YXgtYmlsbC1wYXNzZXMtdGhlLWhvdXNlLWFkdmFuY2VzLXRvLXNlbmF0ZS5odG1sIn0&signature=AQAAAT1jMY4JQXV3SzPHzSj55dUIT6OCPhN-dICzCFE-OvoD&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2025%2F05%2F22%2Ftrump-tax-bill-passes-the-house-advances-to-senate.html" class="rapid-with-clickid" data-original-link="
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/22/trump-tax-bill-passes-the-house-advances-to-senate.html">just narrowly passed a budget bill[/url], which has been referred to by <a href="
https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/" data-autolinker-wiki-id="Donald_Trump" data-original-link="">President Trump[/url] and others as "one big, beautiful bill." Hidden amongst the cuts to health care, debt add-ons and tax breaks for the rich is a <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.techpolicy.press/us-house-passes-10year-moratorium-on-state-ai-laws/">ten-year ban of state AI laws[/url]. You read that right. States would be banned by the federal government from enforcing laws that regulate AI for the next decade.</p>
<p>The vote fell <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20250522-house-passes-trump-budget-bill-critics-fear-cuts-services-ballooning-debt-republican">largely along party lines[/url], with nearly every Republican member of the House approving the bill. This marks one of the most significant federal actions on technology policy in decades and it was buried in a budget bill that has nothing to do with AI.</p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>This isn't law just yet. The budget bill has to pass through the Senate and it could have a difficult road. It's expected that Democratic lawmakers will <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/22/state-ai-laws-moratorium-pushback-blackburn/">challenge the AI regulation ban[/url] under what's called <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL30862">the Byrd Rule[/url], which <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://cdt.org/insights/throw-the-ai-regulations-ban-out-with-the-byrd-bath-water/">prohibits "extraneous" provisions[/url] to the federal budget during the reconciliation process.</p>
<div id="46f25c0960d2462da23897d6102dc0ea"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here’s the moment from Sen. Blackburn pushing back on the idea of a state AI moratorium.
https://t.co/bx0dbL2qmL pic.twitter.com/kAnl0sjudW</p>— Zamaan Qureshi (@zamaan_qureshi)
May 21, 2025 </div>
<p>Even some Senate Republicans seem wary of the ban. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://x.com/zamaan_qureshi/status/1925320843787112460">expressed concern[/url] that it would override state legislation that protects artists from deepfakes in her state. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has also <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://punchbowl.news/archive/51825-tech-sunday-lookahead/">pushed back on the idea[/url] on the <a data-i13n="cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://www.aol.com/ai-companies-were-handed-major-160934316.html">grounds that it could[/url] "tamp down on people's efforts to address" issues posed by AI.</p>
<p>Supporters of the ban argue that it would stop a potentially confusing patchwork of differing state AI laws until Congress can craft its own federal legislation. This is pretty odd coming from the "states' rights" crowd, but whatever.</p>
<p>Opponents, like many Democratic lawmakers and advocacy organizations like the <a data-i13n="cpos:10;pos:1" href="
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/05/stopping-states-passing-ai-laws-next-decade-terrible-idea#:~:text=State%20lawmakers%20must%20be%20able,forward%20with%20this%20damaging%20proposal.">Electronic Frontier Foundation[/url], call it a <a data-i13n="cpos:11;pos:1" href="
https://trahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3571#:~:text=The%20provision%20buried%20in%20the,Big%20Tech%20and%20the%20wealthy.">dangerous giveaway to big tech firms[/url], as these companies stand to benefit the most from a completely unregulated market. They also say it <a data-i13n="cpos:12;pos:1" href="
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3992371/consumer-rights-group-why-10-year-ban-on-ai-regulation-will-harm-americans.html">poses a serious danger to Americans[/url], as it would leave the citizenry unprotected <a data-i13n="cpos:13;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/the-openai-team-tasked-with-protecting-humanity-is-no-more-183433377.html">from any associated risk[/url]. Current state laws address issues including <a data-i13n="cpos:14;pos:1" href="
https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/government/deepfakes-federal-state-regulation/">deepfakes[/url] and <a data-i13n="cpos:15;pos:1" href="
https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/capitol-journal/b/state-net/posts/states-passing-laws-to-prevent-ai-discrimination-in-workplace">discrimination in automated hiring[/url].</p>
<p>“Make no mistake, the families who have come to this committee and begged for us to act won't benefit from this proposal,” said Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan <a data-i13n="cpos:16;pos:1" href="
https://www.techpolicy.press/transcript-us-house-subcommittee-hosts-hearing-on-ai-regulation-and-the-future-of-us-leadership/">during a subcommittee hearing on the matter[/url]. “But you know who will? The big tech CEOs who are sitting behind Donald Trump at his inauguration."</p>
<div id="ee4f82fcd1fa4fb9b3badcf395e57999"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rightfully, the cuts to Medicaid (over 10M people will lose their health care) and the tax cuts for the rich have been the story of the disastrous Republican budget bill.
But I read the whole thing. And there are some hidden rats in there you need to know about.
1/ A quick
