New Analysis: List of State AI and Tech Protections Impacted by Cruz Moratorium
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Public Citizen is releasing a preliminary analysis of state consumer, worker, and public safety protections that would be voided under Senator Ted Cruz’s proposed 10-year moratorium on state and local AI laws—tucked into the budget reconciliation bill now moving through the Senate.
The sweeping moratorium would block state and local AI and tech safeguards for the next decade. It is a devastating policy at a time when AI and tech harms are accelerating like never before and these technologies continue to move far too quickly for Congress to attempt to regulate. States would also lose their share of $42.5 billion in essential broadband funding if they refuse to surrender their right to regulate AI systems.
“This is a blatant attack on states’ abilities to protect consumers, workers, and creators,” said J.B. Branch, Public Citizen’s Big Tech accountability advocate. “The moratorium gives Big Tech a decade-long free pass to unleash whatever new technologies they want to without any form of legal accountability. It destroys common sense safeguards that state legislatures have passed with overwhelming and bipartisan support. Congress should focus on enacting strong baseline federal AI protections, not on tying states’ hands for the next 10 years”
Public Citizen’s preliminary analysis found that laws in states like Kentucky, Utah, Tennessee, and North Dakota, led and supported by Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike, could be wiped out by the moratorium. For example:
- Kentucky’s AI data privacy law—which requires government disclosure when AI is used in decisions that affect a person’s life—blocked.
- Utah’s Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, led by Republican lawmakers, which establishes key consumer safeguards for AI in healthcare, legal services, mental health chatbots, and financial services—invalidated.
- Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, protecting musicians and creators from AI-generated impersonations—voided.
- North Dakota’s first-in-the-nation AI healthcare law, requiring that prior authorization decisions be reviewed by a human and not left solely to AI—a commonsense protection—preempted.
- Laws nationwide banning deepfake pornography, requiring disclosure when consumers interact with AI, and preventing algorithmic discrimination in housing, employment, and credit—all gone.
Public Citizen joins a bipartisan chorus of opposition that includes 40 state attorneys general, the National Conference of State Legislators, 260 state lawmakers, and Americans across the country.
A copy of Public Citizen’s preliminary analysis of state laws can be found here. The list is not exhaustive; however it does reflect the broad language found in Sen. Cruz’s AI moratorium language.