The U.S. Senator voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to remove the controversial 10-year ban on states’ ability to regulate AI from the Trump administration’s “big beautiful bill,” Axios reports.
The provisions for the settlement bill were introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Many well-known Silicon Valley executives, including Sam Altman of Openai, Palmer Luckey of Anduril, and Marc Andreessen of A16Z, supported the so-called “AI moratorium.”
Opposition to the provision has become a bipartisan issue as most Democrats and many Republicans warned that state restrictions bans would harm consumers and that strong AI companies would run with little surveillance. Critics also opposed Cruz’s plan to adhere to federal broadband funds.
After moving back and forth between clauses, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday submitted an amendment that stripped the provisions along with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
Blackburn (pictured above) originally opposed the provision, but reached an agreement with Cruz over the weekend, shortening the proposed ban from 10 to 5 years. Blackburn then leaned full provisional support on Monday.
The Senate voted 99-1 to strip the AI moratorium.
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