a growing chorus of voices opposes
the ai law moratorium
HERE’S WHO’S SPEAKING OUT
REPUBLICAN LEADERS
sEN. JOSH HAWLEY
"What a giveaway to Big Tech. Why would we want to prevent states from doing something to protect copyright laws, personally identifiable information, personal property, and peoples' data?"
sen. marsha blackburn
"We certainly know that in Tennessee we need those protections, and until we pass something that is federally preemptive, we can't call for a moratorium on those things."
Rep. Marjorie
Taylor Greene
“I will NOT vote for any bill that destroys states rights and lets AI run wild for the next 10 years. AI will replace jobs, especially in the press. This is not a left or right issue. It’s about humanity. I’ll go to the mat on this. If you kill federalism, I’m out.”
sen. jerry moran
"A 10-year pause would be very damaging to our country's economy and national security."
vice president
j.d. vance
“The argument against it is that if the feds aren't protecting artists then you're not going to be able to protect artists either. And so I honestly don't think the provision is going to make it in the final bill."
sen. ron johnson
"I don't like it because it hasn't been discussed, it hasn't been debated. This is an incredibly complex issue, AI. It's marvelous. It's a great tool, but it could be unbelievably dangerous as well. It's hard to say what is the right level of regulation."
House Freedom Caucus
Gov. Ron Desantis
"They're talking about in Washington banning states from being able to regulate [AI] at all over the next 10 years. And as governor, I want to be able to provide protections for you working with the legislature if that's warranted. This stuff is progressing so quickly… I think states need to retain their ability to handle the emerging AI issues."
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS
Sen. Ed Markey
"This backdoor moratorium is not responsible. This backdoor moratorium is not acceptable. There's too much at stake. We can't say for 10 years there is no regulation at the state level. If they can see harms that are being committed, they must have the right to be able to legislate.”
Rep. Ro Khanna
“What this moratorium does is prevent every state in the country from having basic regulations to protect workers and to protect consumers. It would basically give a free rein to corporations to develop AI in any way they wanted, and to develop automatic decision making without protecting consumers, workers, and kids.”
rep. tEd lieu
"I don't mind if we have federal preemption. We do have preemption in a number of areas in the law. But we can't preempt with nothing. There's no federal law or idea that we're preempting the states with."
Rep. frank pallone
"If this provision becomes law, states will be powerless to respond to harmful uses of artificial intelligence and automated decision making systems for the next decade. That includes threats we know exist today and threats we cannot currently image that arise over the next 10 years.”
rep. darren soto
“A ten year ban on state AI laws. What could possibly go wrong. If you wanted to launch a reboot of the terminator, this ban would be a good staring point.”
27 House Democrats
“A ten-year hold on state enforcement and regulation exposes Americans to a growing list of harms as AI technologies rapidly evolve and expand across sectors, from healthcare to employment, education, and housing. The resulting regulatory gap from the AI moratorium provision would decimate the good work that states, led by both Democrats and Republicans, have accomplished to set commonsense AI guardrails, including transparency and online safety.”
coalition letters
State lawmakers
State Attorneys General
“This bill does not propose any regulatory scheme to replace or supplement the laws enacted or currently under consideration by the states, leaving Americans entirely unprotected from the potential harms of AI. Moreover, this bill purports to wipe away any state-level frameworks already in place. Imposing a broad moratorium on all state action while Congress fails to act in this area is irresponsible and deprives consumers of reasonable protections.”
Voter Petitions
“I write today to urge you to oppose legislation that would freeze the enforcement of AI safeguards passed by state and local lawmakers.
It is critical that states retain the ability to address the rise of online harms and the impacts of AI on our communities. In an increasingly fraught digital environment, young people are facing new threats online, seniors are targeted by the emergence of AI-generated scams, and workers and creators face new challenges in an AI-integrated economy. Over the next decade, AI will raise some of the most important public policy questions of our time. Now is not the time for a moratorium on AI policymaking.
As your constituent, I urge you to reject legislation that preempts state AI laws. Erasing AI safeguards would halt critical protections, harm affected communities, and freeze policy innovation in developing the best practices for AI governance at a time when experimentation is vital.
Thank you”
advocacy groups
“We, the undersigned organizations committed to protecting civil rights, promoting consumer protections, and fostering responsible innovation, write to express our strong opposition to a provision in the House Energy and Commerce Committee Draft Budget Resolution, passed out of committee on May 14, that would preempt state and local laws governing artificial intelligence (AI).
You must reject this sweeping proposal. Americans deserve both meaningful federal protections and the ability of their states to lead in advancing safety, fairness, and accountability when AI systems cause harm.”