K-STREET, 10,000 FEET: An AI moratorium compromise died in negotiations, now the Senate must chart a new path forward
THE LOWDOWN:
During the negotiations around the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), one of the most contentious points of the legislation was an amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to impose a decade-long federal moratorium on AI.
On the opposite side of the issue, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) became a leading voice against the AI moratorium, introducing an amendment to strike the language from the OBBB.
While Blackburn’s amendment ultimately prevailed in the Senate in a 99-1 vote, the two had initially announced a legislative compromise the day of the Senate’s vote-a-rama.
However, later that day, Blackburn came out against the compromise and encouraged her colleagues to vote against it.
Artificial intelligence (AI) remains a hot topic in the Beltway and across America, especially as the technology evolves and is inserted into everything from our smartphones to social media and beyond. The Senate is, obviously, not immune in this conversation, and the body’s decisions impact the financial side of the AI equation as much as the societal facet.
During the negotiations around the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), one of the most contentious points of the legislation was an amendment proposed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to impose a decade-long federal moratorium on AI. Cruz and proponents of the moratorium argue that without this measure, California, Illinois, and other blue states would regulate AI in a manner that would be harmful for the country–something California has already started to do.
On the opposite side of the issue, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) became a leading voice against the AI moratorium, introducing an amendment to strike the language from the OBBB. Blackburn and her allies argued that a moratorium would also block conservative states from passing reasonable regulations on AI, such as Tennessee’s work to protect likeness and identity of performers, and Arkansas’s work to protect children from exploitation.
While Blackburn’s amendment ultimately prevailed in the Senate in a 99-1 vote, the two had initially announced a legislative compromise the day of the Senate’s vote-a-rama, leading Senators to believe that the moratorium would pass in the final package. However, later that day, Blackburn came out against the compromise and encouraged her colleagues to vote against it.
A draft version of the amendment also made its way through D.C. media, which revealed that the compromise would have dropped the 10-year moratorium to a five-year timeframe with carve-outs included to protect state’s rights.
When asked about the compromise and the future of AI legislation in the Senate, Blackburn’s office pointed to the senator’s statement from the affirmative vote for her AI amendment.
“For as long as I’ve been in Congress, I’ve worked alongside federal and state legislators, parents seeking to protect their kids online, innovators, and the creative community in Tennessee to fight back against Big Tech’s exploitation by passing legislation to govern the virtual space,” Blackburn said. “Until Congress passes federally preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from standing in the gap to protect vulnerable Americans from harm – including Tennessee creators and precious children.”
Blackburn also warned that the provision “could allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives.”
However, Senate insiders said that there still may be a path forward for a more measure AI moratorium, possibly in the NDAA, an end-of-year spending package, or in the next reconciliation–which is already being drafted on the Hill.
