As Congress races to pass President Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ it’s also grappling with the contentious ‘AI moratorium’ provision. Originally championed by White House AI czar David Sacks, this measure initially called for a 10-year pause on state AI regulations. The provision has faced widespread opposition from a diverse range of government officials, including 40 state attorneys general and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In an attempt to address these concerns, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ted Cruz unveiled a revised version of the AI moratorium on Sunday night. The new proposal reduced the pause from 10 years to five and introduced several carve-outs. However, critics quickly denounced this watered-down version as a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ for Big Tech, prompting Blackburn to reverse her position on Monday evening.
‘While I appreciate Chairman Cruz’s efforts to find acceptable language that allows states to protect their citizens from the abuses of AI, the current language is not acceptable to those who need these protections the most,’ Blackburn said in a statement to WIRED. She expressed concerns that the provision could allow Big Tech to continue exploiting vulnerable groups, including children, creators, and conservatives.
Blackburn’s change of heart marked her third position on the moratorium, having initially opposed it, then collaborated with Cruz on the five-year version, and finally opposing her own compromised version. Her shift is significant given her history of championing regulations that protect the music industry, a major economic player in her home state of Tennessee.
The revised moratorium included exemptions for state laws related to ‘unfair or deceptive acts or practices, child online safety, child sexual abuse material, rights of publicity, protection of a person’s name, image, voice, or likeness.’ However, these carve-outs came with the caveat that exempted state laws cannot place an ‘undue or disproportionate burden’ on AI systems or automated decision systems.
Critics argue that this language creates a ‘brand-new shield against litigation and state regulation,’ as Senator Maria Cantwell noted. Advocacy groups and legal experts, including those focused on child safety rules, contend that the revised AI provision remains damaging. Danny Weiss of Common Sense Media described it as ‘extremely sweeping’ and capable of affecting ‘almost every effort to regulate tech with regards to safety.’
In response to the continued opposition, Senators Cantwell and Ed Markey introduced an amendment to remove the AI moratorium from the bill entirely. They condemned the revised version as ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing,’ arguing that it still allowed the Trump administration to use federal broadband funding as leverage against states and prevented them from protecting children online from Big Tech’s predatory behavior.
In a surprising turn of events, Cantwell and Blackburn jointly introduced an amendment to strip the AI moratorium from the bill on Monday night. The Trump Administration has urged Congress to vote on the Big Beautiful Bill before the Fourth of July holiday recess.
