Yesterday, Attorney General William Tong joined 36 other state AGs in signing a letter to Congress requesting that they oppose a federal ban on state-level artificial intelligence (AI) regulation. The letter follows recent reports indicating some lawmakers’ intent to sneak a provision that would prevent states from regulating AI into this year’s annual military funding bill.
“This legislation is a handout to Big Tech seeking free rein to reshape our society with zero oversight or accountability,” said Tong. “Attorneys general are united in staunch opposition to any effort to restrain states’ abilities to pass commonsense AI regulations to fill the vacuum left by federal inaction.”
While it is unclear what the exact language of the AI-regulation ban would be, it would not be Capitol Hill’s first attempt. In May, House Republicans successfully passed a version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included a 10-year ban on state-level AI legislation, but the language was shot down in the Senate, and did not pass in the final version of the bill.
The AGs’ letter acknowledged the potential benefit of AI innovation, but argued that it must be hedged against the harms associated with its use, particularly by children and those with mental health issues.
“We are seeing scams powered by AI-generated deepfakes, social media profiles, and voice clones,” reads the letter. “We are also deeply troubled by sycophantic and delusional generative AI outputs plunging individuals into spirals of mental illness, suicide, self-harm, and violence And we are concerned that AI chatbots and ‘companions, are engaging children in highly inappropriate ways, including with conversations that feature graphic romantic and sexual roleplay, encouragement of suicide, promotion of eating disorders, and suggestions to prioritize use of the AI at the expense of connecting with friends and loved ones in real life.”
The attorneys general argued that the current lack of meaningful federal regulation makes state legislation even more imperative, saying that states are better poised to respond to the persistent and flexible nature of AI’s development.
“Broad preemption of state protections is particularly ill-advised because constantly evolving emerging technologies, like AI, require agile regulatory responses that can protect our citizens,” reads the letter. “This regulatory innovation is best left to the 50 states so we can all learn from what works and what does not.”
This view is one that does not seem to be shared by the White House. Earlier this week, CNBC leaked a draft of an Executive Order which would pull federal funding from states with AI regulations and open them up to legal challenges. If the White House were to take this route, a provision would not even have to be snuck into this year’s military funding bill. The draft EO posits that “our national security demands” the US win in the international AI race.
“To win, American AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” reads the draft. “But State legislatures have introduced over 1,000 AI bills that threaten to undermine that innovative culture.”
The EO goes on to name California and Colorado as examples of states whose AI laws represent unnecessary burdens. Connecticut passed several laws governing AI’s usage in July, but it is unclear whether the administration would view such bills in the same light. If the draft of Trump’s EO were to be finalized and signed, Connecticut’s laws would be reviewed by federal officials within 90 days, who would determine whether or not these laws should open the state up to punishment. If this were to occur, Connecticut might be aided by Gov. Lamont’s past reluctance to pass as stringent of AI-regulations as other states have, or as stringent as other state lawmakers would prefer.
At the federal level, Connecticut’s senior U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal has taken an interest in passing AI regulations. In August, Blumenthal proposed a bill that would allow creatives to sue AI companies for use of their IP without their consent, and just last week he proposed another bill that would regulate how AI chatbots can interact with minors.
While the effort to prevent AI regulation has been spearheaded by a small group of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well as President Trump himself, the attorneys general’s letter showed bipartisan support against such measures. Tong’s signature on the letter was joined by those of attorneys general in red states such as Utah, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
“AI will cause tidal waves in our public safety, national security, economy, and health, and the United States needs to be ready to be an international leader,” concluded the AGs’ letter. “This moratorium would put us behind by tying states’ hands and failing to keep up with the technology, and so we ask Congress not to inject an AI moratorium in upcoming appropriations legislation.”
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AI is a computer program, nothing more, nothing less.
We all need to get back to what is ignored, because a computer program, will not grow food or clean up pollution, that we all create.