SANDBOX Act Puts Public Safety on the Chopping Block in Favor of Corporate Immunity
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senator Ted Cruz introduced the “SANDBOX Act,” a bill that would allow AI companies to skirt critical consumer and safety protections under the guise of “innovation.” By creating a federal regulatory sandbox, the proposal hands Big Tech the keys to experiment on the public while weakening oversight, undermining regulatory authority, and pressuring Congress to permanently roll back essential safeguards.
The SANDBOX Act would:
- Empower companies to apply for waivers from any federal regulation that touches on an AI product or service.
- Automatically grant waivers from federal regulations if an agency does not act within 90 days for up to two years, with extensions possible for up to 10 years.
- Grant the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) the unprecedented power to override any agency’s rejection of a waiver application and approve the waiver.
- Creates a “fast track” that allows OSTP to recommend Congress repeal or amend existing regulations based on sandbox activity.
Public Citizen’s Big Tech accountability advocate J.B. Branch issued the following statement on the proposed bill:
“Public safety should never be made optional, but that’s exactly what the SANDBOX Act does. Companies that build untested, unsafe AI tools could get hall passes from the very rules designed to protect the public. It guts basic consumer protections, lets companies skirt accountability, and treats Americans as test subjects.
“The mantra in Silicon Valley is ‘move fast and break things’ and that’s exactly what Big Tech will do with a green light to override the laws and regulations they don’t want to follow. AI corporate executives see the opportunity to deploy all sorts of unregulated and untested products that can threaten our children’s safety, consumers’ privacy, and American democracy.
“It’s unconscionable to risk the American public’s safety to enrich AI companies that are already collectively worth trillions. The sob stories of AI companies being ‘held back’ by regulation are simply not true and the record company valuations show it. Lawmakers should stand with the public, not corporate lobbyists, and slam the brakes on this reckless proposal. Congress should focus on legislation that delivers real accountability, transparency, and consumer protection in the age of AI.”