Stop AI Preemption Fact Sheet
By J.B. Branch
Stop AI Preemption: Protect the Public from Corporate Harm
The Senate’s AI moratorium would block all state and local governments from enforcing any law or regulation governing artificial intelligence for the next 10 years—including existing laws. This unprecedented federal overreach of state’s rights to protect their citizens would also affect all $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) funding for states that currently have AI protections. Americans have been clear they want their state AI protections. Recent polling shows that 70 percent of voters feel states shouldn’t be sidelined from enacting and enforcing AI and tech regulations (including 68 percent of Republicans).
This Will Invalidate the Following Types of State Consumer Protections:
- Non-consensual intimate deepfakes which disproportionately target American children.
- Licensing and regulations for AI acting as doctors, lawyers, or therapists.
- Safeguards against exploitative AI mental health chatbots and misuse of patient data.
- Bans on companies falsely using someone’s identity or likeness in ads.
- Disclosure rules so consumers know when they’re interacting with an AI chatbot.
- Prohibitions against algorithmic discrimination in hiring, housing, and banking.
- Regulations that ensures a human doctor reviews medical records—not just AI.
- Prohibitions against companies storing facial recognition information without consent.
Regulations on law enforcements uses of drones or robots on American citizens.
If states want to continue enforcing any of these protections, they must forfeit federal broadband funding. AI harms are accelerating far faster than Congress can act. States have stepped up with needed protections. This bill blocks states from protecting citizens for an entire decade at a time when AI evolves quickly and when we cannot predict the next round of AI harms!
What Should Senators and Congressional Representatives Do?
- Remove the AI preemption provision from the reconciliation bill immediately.
- Enact minimum AI protections at the federal level and leave space for states to add additional safeguards letting states respond quickly to AI consumer harms.
- Reject future preemption bills! Sen. Ted Cruz plans to introduce a federal bill that would permanently block state AI laws which would continue this short-sighted and unnecessary policy fight.
For more information, please reach out to J.B. Branch, Big Tech Accountability Advocate at Public Citizen: jbranch@citizen.org.