Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) signaled the White House has not made enough progress on an AI moratorium for it to be included in the defense policy bill the Senate will consider later this month.
“That’s controversial, as you know,” Thune said of the moratorium, which would temporarily prevent states from passing new laws on artificial intelligence.
“We’ll see,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Both sides are kind of dug in.”
The White House has been attempting to insert the AI moratorium’s language into the National Defense Authorization Act, the last must-pass piece of legislation Congress will consider this year. In a show of congressional support, House Republican leadership has gotten behind that push.
The measure has faced heavy skepticism from senators, however, and failed earlier this year when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the chairman of the Commerce Committee, attempted to add the moratorium to Trump’s tax law. It was ultimately stripped out in a 99-1 Senate vote.
The Trump administration has made AI dominance one of its top priorities and believes state laws will slow an investment boom. The pushback on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, has centered on matters of states’ rights, plus a general sentiment that Congress should come up with a national framework before preventing states from crafting their own policies.
“I think the White House is working with senators, and House members for that matter, to try and come up with something that works but preserves states’ rights,” Thune added.
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President Donald Trump has personally appealed to Congress to include the moratorium, either in the NDAA or another piece of legislation. The White House has also been considering unilateral action that, if taken, could have a chilling effect on new state laws.
The AI moratorium is one of the final hang-ups as lawmakers prepare to pass the NDAA, with its text expected to be released on Thursday and a Senate vote scheduled the following week.