Over the weekend, Republicans in the House unveiled a sweeping budget proposal that includes massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, climate programs, and more. But buried amongst those cuts, legislators also proposed a decade-long ban on AI regulations at the state level. Although framed as upholding innovation, the attempted moratorium is yet another clear display of the federal government pandering to the desires of Big Tech.
Within the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s bill, lawmakers proposed that “no state or political subdivision may enforce any law of regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems” starting from the day that the proposal is enacted.
Laws imposing “a substantive design, performance, data-handling, documentation, civil liability, taxation, fee, or other requirement” on listed AI systems would fall under the moratorium. However, there are a few exceptions, like if the above requirements are due to federal regulation or if the law also applies to non-AI systems that “provide comparable functions”. In addition, the pause isn’t applicable to regulations that “remove legal impediments” or “facilitate the deployment or operation of” AI systems.
