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By Michaela Gordoni
The Senate just struck down a bill that would have deterred the regulation of AI in states.
Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist and digital safety expert, celebrated the striking of the bill.
“A huge win for online safety today: The US Senate removed the ban on state AI regulation from the bill with a remarkable 99-1 vote,” he shared on July 1. “Thanks to @marshablackburn, @senatormariacantwell, @sensusancollins, @senmarkeymemes, the many youth and online safety groups who organized and magnified the message, and to the tens of thousands of parents who demanded that their state leaders fight back.”
He also thanked individuals who signed petitions against the bill.
“No industry should have a special carve-out to disregard children’s safety. Least of all #AI, the fastest-growing industry today,” The Anxious Generation author wrote. “To shield AI companies from state regulation for *ten years* was unthinkable and should never have been in the bill.”
He also noted that, unlike what many think, a lot of young people are against unregulated AI.
Significant tech companies like Google and OpenAI naturally supported the bill, Reuters reported.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed that it would be difficult to comply with 50 states’ varying regulations.
Related: Entertainment Industry Celebrates AI Bills That Fight Digital Replicas
Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat on the Commerce Committee, praised the vote: “We can’t just run over good state consumer protection laws. States can fight robocalls, deepfakes and provide safe autonomous vehicle laws.”
“We will now be able to protect our kids from the harms of completely unregulated AI,” said Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
A group of parents whose children died from online harm appealed to lawmakers to strike the bill.
“In the absence of federal action, the moratorium gives AI companies exactly what they want: a license to develop and market dangerous products with impunity — with no rules and no accountability,” wrote Megan Garcia, parent of a 14-year-old who killed himself after engaging with an AI chatbot. “A moratorium gives companies free rein to create and launch products that sexually groom children and encourage suicide, as in the case of my dear boy.”
“Until Congress passes federally preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from making laws that protect their citizens,” said Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Blackburn explained that it’s aggravating that Congress hasn’t reined in emerging tech.
She pointed out that congress didn’t regulate deepfakes. “But you know who has passed it? It is our states,” Blackburn said. “They’re the ones that are protecting children in the virtual space. They’re the ones that are out there protecting our entertainers — name, image, likeness — broadcasters, podcasters, authors.”
Hopefully more regulation will emerge as a result of the bill being struck.
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