Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' would create a regulation-free AI hellscape, AGs warn
- Reference: 1747768310
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/05/20/trump_bill_regulation_free_ai/
- Source link:
The " [1]One Big Beautiful Bill Act ," Trump's proposed budget reconciliation bill for FY 2025, has spurred [2]40 state AGs , as well as more than [3]140 separate organizations , to write congressional leaders urging them to reconsider a particular passage about AI regulation.
Buried 291 pages into the 1,116-page bill as passed out of committee, Section 43201(c) describes a 10-year moratorium on state-level enforcement of "any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems."
[4]
Exceptions to the rule are few, and only allow for state-level rules that "remove legal impediments" to operating AI systems and streamlining their adoption. State laws that impose any substantive restrictions or requirements on AI models will be considered unenforceable under the decade-long moratorium.
[5]
[6]
State AGs are understandably concerned.
"This bill will affect hundreds of existing and pending state laws," the attorneys general wrote in their letter to House and Senate leadership.
[7]
At least 45 states and US territories introduced AI-related legislation last year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-one states, along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, passed legislation or adopted resolutions that regulate AI in 2024.
The AGs predict chaos should the provision make it to passage.
"In the face of Congressional inaction on the emergence of real-world harms raised by the use of AI, states are likely to be the forum for addressing such issues," the AG letter argued. "This bill would directly harm consumers, deprive them of rights currently held in many states, and prevent State AGs from fulfilling their mandate to protect consumers."
This moratorium would mean that even if a company deliberately designs an algorithm that causes foreseeable harm ... the company making that bad tech would be unaccountable to lawmakers and the public
The Demand Progress signatories, which include Mozilla, the Distributed AI Research Institute, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and a range of labor and political groups, agree.
"Congress's inability to enact comprehensive legislation enshrining AI protections leaves millions of Americans … vulnerable to existing threats … and all of us exposed to the unpredictable safety risks posed by [AI]," the letter states.
[8]
"This moratorium would mean that even if a company deliberately designs an algorithm that causes foreseeable harm ... the company making that bad tech would be unaccountable to lawmakers and the public," the letter argued.
But despite this and [9]previous pleading , AI regulation hasn't gained much traction in the federal government. Previous efforts to introduce rules have stalled - even an effort to [10]spin up a commission to look at AI regulation [11]failed to make it out of committee.
[12]Law prof predicts generative AI will die at the hands of watchdogs
[13]California's Governor Newsom is worried AI will be smothered in regulation
[14]Trump ends Biden-era dream to cap US AI chip exports
[15]Prepare your audits: EU Commission approves first-of-its-kind AI Act
Regardless, the Big Beautiful Bill is not a sure thing.
Republicans in the House haven't been overly thrilled with Trump's proposal, with the conservative caucus somewhat [16]fractured on whether to pass the measure. While the House Budget Committee did [17]advance the bill, it did so by a narrow margin after four Republicans who had voted "no" on Friday switched to " [18]present ," allowing it to move forward without endorsing it.
We've asked the White House and Congressional leadership for comment on the matter, but haven't heard back.
It's not clear when the House of Reps will vote - it's only on this week's [19]agenda as a possibility. If it passes the House, the Senate will still need to okay the matter. Trump has said he wants the bill passed by the US Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 26. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=118284
[2] https://www.doj.nh.gov/news-and-media/attorney-general-formella-joins-bipartisan-letter-congress-opposing-budget-amendment
[3] https://demandprogress.org/tech-workers-teachers-artists-oppose-ai-preemption-measure/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aCz7eWbFpHz7u5rqzY9cUQAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCz7eWbFpHz7u5rqzY9cUQAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCz7eWbFpHz7u5rqzY9cUQAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aCz7eWbFpHz7u5rqzY9cUQAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aCz7eWbFpHz7u5rqzY9cUQAAAEs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/23/ai_firms_and_civil_society/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/19/us_ai_regulation/
[11] https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1671/all-actions
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/24/generative_ai_death/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/30/newsom_ai_warning/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/13/trump_ai_exports/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/21/prepare_your_audits_eu_commission/
[16] https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5400480/house-republicans-trump-tax-bill
[17] https://budget.house.gov/press-release/house-budget-committee-advances-one-big-beautiful-bill-act
[18] https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=118295
[19] https://docs.house.gov/floor/
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: USA
So, no regulation of AI controled autonomous motor vehicles.
What could possibly go wrong?
Who could posibly be behind this?
Answers on a postcard to Mr D Trump, Pennsylvania Avenue.
Re: USA
No rules on my Movie-AI which is able to learn a movie and regenerate it exactly
As a bonus, it uses no more resources than a regualr "cp" command
Might as well...
Call it the : "Fark you, I'll do whatever I want" bill...
Skynet starts here
Fortunately
It is such a bad bill that republicans can't even get it out of committee. Even if it left the House the Senate finds so much in it objectionable that they would just start over with their own rather than trying to fix it.
Over the years spending bills kept getting bigger to lump in the must-pass/everyone-wants stuff with things that a minority of people want (but a minority from the rural areas wants X, a minority from urban areas wants Y, a minority from coastal areas wants Z, and so forth, so they all have to go along to get what they want for their districts) That may not be a healthy way of budgeting but it worked, until there was a caucus of republicans who reflexively voted "no" on everything, even their own bills. That worked because democrats would be at least somewhat involved in negotiations and while they wouldn't like the bill they'd figure it is as good as they're going to get so enough of them would go along to pass it.
I think republicans have found the limitation of that strategy when they put to put EVERYTHING into one bill, and with too many things that are poisonous to too many republican congressmen (let alone democrats) They thought they could force them to vote for making big cuts to medicaid while somehow unbelievably still increasing overall spending and cutting taxes even beyond just continuing Trump's first term cuts to balloon the deficit by giving them "no choice" but to vote for one bill. Not only that but by completely cutting democrats out of the negotiations ENTIRELY they are all voting no in unison, because having no budget deal at all is better than what the republicans are proposing.
Mike Johnson et al are going to have to come up with a new strategy now that it looks like when given "no choice" there are still enough more than enough saying "no".
Re: Fortunately
It also works in parliamentary systems. Put all the year's legislation into the budget bill, on the grounds that if it involves government spending it's budget, and challenge your own party to vote against it and thus cause an election
The Onion
Has a great angle on this bill
https://theonion.com/republican-infighting-erupts-over-whether-trump-bill-beautiful-or-handsome/
USA
...the bigliest and bestiest democracy money can buy.