The Senate voted early Tuesday morning to strip a provision barring states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI) from Republicans’ tax and spending megabill.
The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), was adopted 99-1, with only Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) voting against it.
The removal of the provision marks a sharp turn of events for the AI moratorium.
Blackburn announced Sunday she had reached a deal with Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on new language that would bar states from regulating AI for five years and featured exemptions for child online safety and publicity rights.
However, she pulled support for the updated provision late Monday and instead offered up the amendment to strike the measure from President Trump’s sweeping tax bill.
Cruz ultimately got behind Blackburn’s amendment early Tuesday, acknowledging that “many of my colleagues would prefer not to vote on this matter.”
“A few hours ago, we had an agreement that Blackburn-Cruz was set to pass,” he said on the Senate floor of his earlier deal with the Tennessee Republican.
“When I spoke to President Trump last year, last night, he said it was a terrific agreement,” Cruz added. “The agreement protected kids and protected the rights of creative artists, but outside interests opposed that deal.”
Blackburn underscored her concerns with the language of the updated provision on the Senate floor.
“I regret that we weren’t able to come to a compromise that would protect our governors, our state legislators, our attorney generals and, of course, House members who have expressed concern over this language,” she said.
“I do want to thank Sen. Cruz for the work and the time that he put in trying to find a resolution to this issue. I do appreciate that,” Blackburn continued. “But what we know is this — this body has proven that they cannot legislate on emerging technology.”
She noted Congress’s inability to pass legislation on online privacy, AI and other tech issues. Blackburn has been a key proponent of the Kids Online Safety Act, which she reintroduced last month. The bill passed the Senate last year but failed to move forward in the House.
“You know who has passed it?” she added. “It is our states. They’re the ones that are protecting children in the virtual space. They’re the ones that are out here protecting our entertainers’ name, image, likeness, of broadcasters, podcasters, authors. And it is appropriate that we approach this issue with the seriousness that it deserves.”
The updated version of the provision would have barred states from regulating AI for five years if they wanted access to $500 million in AI infrastructure and deployment funding. It cut in half the timeline of the original provision, which sought to bar state AI regulation for 10 years.
