By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last week, U.S. Senator’s Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), joined Washington’s Attorney General Nick Brown and Tennessee Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti in a bipartisan discussion on the potentialimpact that a moratorium on Artificial Intelligence (AI), as proposed in the Trump Administrations “One Big Beautiful Bill”, can have on communities across the country.
OBBBA, specifically Section 43201 of H.R. 1, proposes a 10-year moratorium on state and local laws regulating AI models, systems, and automated decision systems, aiming to prevent states from restricting AI development and deployment for a decade.
The 10-year AI moratorium has been widely criticized because it strips states of the power to regulate fast-evolving, high-risk technologies. Many experts, policymakers, and civil rights advocates say this moratorium is detrimental to consumer protection, civil rights, and democratic accountability, and it disproportionately hurts vulnerable communities.
After it was passed by the House, AGs from 40 states wrote House and Senate leaders to express their deep concerns about the provision’s destructive impact on hundreds of existing and pending laws passed and considered by both Republican and Democratic state legislatures.
These include laws to protect against AI-generated explicit material, prohibit deep-fakes, protect renters from being gouged by AI-generated housing costs, prevent spam phone calls and texts, and require basic disclosures when consumers are interacting with specific kinds of AI.
“We are here because members of the House and Senate are trying to write a reconciliation bill that could stop what are reasonable theft and fraud laws on the books in our states now,” Cantwell said. “Specifically, by imposing a 10-year moratorium on the enforcement of state laws that protect their citizens from AI harm and responsible development of AI systems.”
Brown says that the proposal could undermine existing laws and take away efforts to protect the citizens of Washington state.
“Washington has a law that prohibits deep-fakes being used against political candidates by mimicking their appearance and their speech and provides a right of action when that is being used,” said Brown. “In this particular environment, where we see so much misinformation, we want to make sure that states have the opportunity to regulate that.”
“I think we all recognize that the federal government has the ability to preempt state regulation of AI, but they really shouldn’t do that when there are no other protections at the federal level,” added Brown.
According to Cantwell, AI presents a wide range of challenges that, over the past year, have prompted 24 states to take notice and begin addressing them.
“States know the challenges,” said Cantwell. “Last year, 24 states enacted regulations on AI in some way and have adopted these laws that fill the gap while we are waiting for federal action. Now, Congress is threatening these laws, which will leave hundreds of Americans vulnerable to AI harm. By abolishing those state law protections, the moratorium would erase hundreds of state laws that protect Americans from harm.”
Brown believes that it is vitally important that states continue to be laboratories of democracy as we figure out the best way to both regulate and protect people in our states, as he recognizes the tremendous value that AI can provide for our states and this country.
“Being in Washington, we have so many tech industries here that are leading some of the innovative developments in this field,” said Brown. “But we also have to recognize many of the potential harms that come from AI across our states and this country.”
At the state level, Brown believes there is a significant amount of opportunity to innovate and advance new strategies to protect children and all Washington residents from the harmful impacts of AI, his most pressing concern as a newly appointed Attorney General.
“We want to make sure that we have the ability to protect our kids and residents, but this piece of legislation that is being contemplated in Congress right now would not give us that ability,” Brown stressed. “That is why it is really important that we raise an alarm about this issue.”
