Overview

• The bill’s AI preemption clause would bar states from enforcing any AI regulation for a decade while allocating $500 million to modernize federal AI and automation systems.
• Senate Republicans have signaled plans to rewrite or eliminate the moratorium, with its fate hinging on a Senate parliamentarian’s Byrd Rule ruling in the budget reconciliation process.
• GOP senators Marsha Blackburn and Josh Hawley broke ranks to oppose the ban, arguing that states should retain the ability to pilot tailored AI oversight regimes.
• A bipartisan coalition of at least 35 California legislators and 40 state attorneys general warned that the moratorium would invalidate existing laws on deepfakes, child protection and AI medical disclosures.
• An Echelon Insights poll conducted in mid-May found 59 percent of registered voters—including a majority of Republicans—oppose blocking state AI regulations.