Republicans Split Over AI Rules: Senate Wants States to Decide, But White House Wants Federal Control

AI law is splitting the GOP apart as senate republicans blocked White House's push for a single, unified federal law in the United States.

By blocking the proposed AI moratorium, individual states can make their own rules on how they can regulate AI. In White House's defense, similar to calls made by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, state-level AI laws would impede the industry's growth as it would limit companies from expanding into other states.

The Senate Republicans Against Federal Control of AI

Some of the Republicans advocating for state-level AI legislation are Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. According to Fox News, the group considered the choice not to include the moratorium in the yearly National Defense Authorisation Act a small win for state rights.

Hawley said that AI chatbots might raise safety issues if they were to interact with minors, and that Congress should set some limits in that regard. Being a far supporter of federal regulation of big tech companies, Blackburn said that she is in favour of a national AI law, but it should mainly focus on protecting children, consumers, and content creators.

Coming off as one of the least interested in federal AI law, Johnson reveals he's skeptical about the ability of Congress to enact an 'effective' set of rules, citing examples in failed laws in complex areas like healthcare. He also warned that severely generalized AI regulations might not end up with the intended results: to protect consumers and children.

What White House's AI Federal Framework Agenda Means

While there has been no action to implement an order, the White House proposed to effectively block states from issuing AI laws that conflict with federal standards. This executive order would even withhold certain federal funding from non-compliant states and allow the Department of Justice to sue states enacting their own rules.

US President Trump had been vocal about taking one federal standard for AI, arguing that excessive state-level regulation threatens growth and innovation. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas shares a similar sentiment, believing it would ensure that US remains competitive against global rivals like China.

Initially, Cruz himself pushed for a nationwide pause on AI rules as US companies ramped up innovation, but faced strong opposition. He has continued to advocate for national-level guidance to prevent a 'patchwork' of 50 different sets of laws coming from each state in the US.

State-Level AI Laws: Can This Threaten Innovation?

For now, states currently retain the power to regulate AI independently. However, big tech CEOs warned that this will have implications for companies developing AI products. Therefore, it affects the position of the US in the global AI race.

Some examples cited would be how some state-level laws could prevent an AI company from extending beyond other states, limiting US-based innovation from going global, unlike China.

For others in opposition, however, big tech is now seeing AI as a foundational technology to support other innovations. Meaning, it's not built for one task that one single, federal law can control. A unified law will make it hard to predict and prevent risks.