INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Blackburn said she agreed with Cantwell that the AI regulation proposal "is not the type of thing that we put into reconciliation bills."
Blackburn added that lawmakers "are working to move forward with legislation at the federal level, but we do not need a moratorium that
would prohibit our states from stepping up and protecting citizens in their state."Sens
Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have also criticized the idea of stopping states from regulating AI.Cruz argued that his
proposal stops states "from strangling AI deployment with EU-style regulation." Under his first proposal, no BEAD funds were to be given to
any state or territory that enforces "any law or regulation..
limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision
systems entered into interstate commerce."The Cantwell/Blackburn press conference also included Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, a
Democrat; and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican
Brown said that "Washington has a law that prohibits deep fakes being used against political candidates by mimicking their appearance and
their speech," another "that prohibits sharing fabricated sexual images without consent and provides for penalties for those who possess and
distribute such images," and a third "that prohibits the knowing distribution of forged digital likenesses that can be used to harm or
defraud people.""All of those laws, in my reading, would be invalid if this was to pass through Congress, and each of those laws are
prohibiting and protecting people here in our state," Brown said.Skrmetti said that if the Senate proposal becomes law "there would be
arguments out there for the big tech companies that the moratorium does, in fact, preclude any enforcement of any consumer protection laws
if there's an AI component to the product that we're looking at."
