Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday said she opposes Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) provision in the Big Beautiful Bill that would set a ten-year moratorium on state-based artificial intelligence regulations.
Early Monday morning reports found that Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz and Blackburn struck a deal on a Big Beautiful Bill provision that would provide states $500 million in additional funding for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program as long as states do not regulate artificial intelligence.
Blackburn and Cruz struck a deal Monday that would have carveouts in the provision to “protect kids, creators, and other vulnerable individuals from the unintended consequences of AI.”
However, it appears that Blackburn cannot agree with the current language.
She said in a written statement, obtained by Breitbart News:
For as long as I’ve been in Congress, I’ve worked alongside federal and state legislators, parents seeking to protect their kids online, and the creative community in Tennessee to fight back against Big Tech’s exploitation by passing legislation to govern the virtual space. 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. This provision could allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives. 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. [Emphasis added]
Sens. Blackburn, Susan Collins (R-ME), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) reportedly filed an amendment to strip the provision.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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