Cruz AI Moratorium Is a Decade-Long Gift to Big Tech at Consumers’ Expense
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Republicans released new bill text clarifying their effort to preempt state AI consumer protections for an entire decade by tying it to $42.45 billion in essential broadband funding for underserved communities through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Senator Ted Cruz’s provision would give the U.S. Department of Commerce sweeping new authority to withhold or claw back all existing BEAD funding from states that refuse to surrender their right to regulate AI systems at a time when AI companies continue releasing unsafe products at an alarming rate.
This backdoor preemption not only forces states into an impossible choice between protecting their residents and providing broadband access, but also undermines public safety, privacy, and democratic governance just as AI harms are accelerating.
In response to the new text, Public Citizen Big Tech accountability advocate J.B. Branch issued the following statement:
“Senate Republicans can call this whatever they want, but the American people see it for what it is: a 10-year free pass for Big Tech companies that have consistently failed consumers and released dangerous products.
“A decade is a long time—and with AI advancing rapidly, we cannot predict what harms will emerge in that time. Meanwhile, Congress is holding states hostage and falsely promising they’ll finally pass comprehensive AI legislation.
“The tipping point from ludicrous to insane is making broadband funding for rural and urban communities contingent on states abandoning their right to protect their citizens —fully knowing Congress has not historically and will likely continue not to regulate Big Tech.”