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10-year moratorium on state and local AI laws

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Relevant to AI governance discussions about the balance between federal and state regulatory authority; this legislative development could significantly shape the U.S. AI policy landscape by restricting state-level AI safety experimentation for a decade.

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Importance: 52/100opinion piecenews

Summary

This American Progress article examines a proposed federal legislative provision that would impose a 10-year moratorium on state and local governments enacting or enforcing their own AI regulations. The piece analyzes the policy implications, arguing this would preempt a patchwork of state-level AI safety laws and centralize regulatory authority—or create a regulatory vacuum—at the federal level.

Key Points

  • A provision in federal legislation would block states and localities from regulating AI for 10 years, overriding existing and future state AI laws.
  • Critics argue the moratorium would eliminate meaningful consumer protections currently being developed at the state level in the absence of federal AI law.
  • Supporters contend uniform federal rules prevent a fragmented regulatory landscape that could hamper AI innovation and competitiveness.
  • The moratorium raises federalism concerns about whether states can act as policy laboratories for AI governance experimentation.
  • The provision reflects broader tensions between industry-favored light-touch federal preemption and advocates pushing for robust, layered AI oversight.

Cited by 1 page

PageTypeQuality
Failed and Stalled AI ProposalsAnalysis63.0

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The House Is Close To Passing a Moratorium on State Efforts To Regulate AI - Center for American Progress 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 the-house-is-close-to-passing-a-moratorium-on-state-efforts-to-regulate-ai 
 Article 
 The House Is Close To Passing a Moratorium on State Efforts To Regulate AI 
 A House committee reconciliation proposal includes a federal moratorium that would nullify or prevent, for a decade, existing or future state laws that address any aspect of AI law or regulation. 
 Center for American Progress 
 05/15/2025 
 05/29/2025 
 Adam Conner 
 136247 
 Structural Reform and Governance 
 Technology Policy 
 Restoring Social Trust in Democracy 
 Artificial Intelligence;Reconciliation;State and Local Policy;Technology Policy 
 
 
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 The U.S. Capitol Building is seen during a Senate Forum on Artificial Intelligence in the Russell Senate Office Building, October 24, 2023, in Washington. (Getty/Anna Rose Layden) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 On May 11, 2025, the House Energy and Commerce (House E&C) Committee released its budget reconciliation proposal , and on May 14, the proposal was passed out of committee . It includes the largest Medicaid cuts in history , as part of what a Center for American Progress analysis called the “largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in U.S. history.” Tucked away in the proposal is an expansive giveaway to Big Tech and artificial intelligence (AI) companies, in the form of a federal moratorium that would nullify or prevent existing or future state laws that address any aspect of AI law or regulation—for a decade.

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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