A legislative initiative aimed at preventing U.S. states from implementing their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations has reportedly been rejected from an annual defense spending bill. The proposal, which sought to preempt state-level AI legislation, encountered bipartisan resistance in Congress.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) stated on Tuesday that Republican leaders, who backed the measure alongside President Trump, would explore \"other places\" to introduce the provision, according to reports from The Hill. This marks a continued effort by certain federal lawmakers to centralize AI regulation at the national level.
The recent attempt follows a similar unsuccessful bid earlier this year. In a prior effort, GOP lawmakers had sought to incorporate a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws into President Trump's tax and spending bill. That provision was also removed after facing significant opposition from both political parties, highlighting ongoing divisions regarding the scope of federal versus state authority in AI governance.
The push for federal preemption has garnered support from certain segments of the technology industry, particularly companies in Silicon Valley. Proponents of a federal-only approach argue that a disparate collection of state regulations could create an unmanageable framework of rules, potentially hindering innovation and the development of AI technologies across the United States.
Conversely, critics of preemption maintain that many existing and proposed state AI laws prioritize consumer protection, transparency, and safety standards. These groups contend that, in the absence of comprehensive federal AI legislation addressing these areas, blocking states from regulating would effectively remove critical oversight and empower large technology companies without sufficient accountability. Scalise reportedly acknowledged that the defense bill was not the appropriate vehicle for such a provision, aligning with President Trump's previous calls to introduce the ban as a separate legislative act.
