States Fight Back Against Federal AI Rules
So, get this, a bunch of state attorneys general, you know, from places like California, New York, and Ohio, are totally against this idea the Republicans have. They want to basically put a stop to states making their own rules about artificial intelligence for a whole ten years.
This was tucked away in President Trump's tax bill, and it would stop a bunch of AI laws that states have been passing lately. Like, a group of forty attorneys general, both Republicans and Democrats from all over, told Congress on Friday to just ditch the whole thing. They were getting ready for a hearing on Sunday night about President Trump's tax bill, btw.
They were like, 'Hey, stopping states from doing anything while Congress isn't really doing much is kinda messed up and leaves people without good protection.' The attorney general from California, Rob Bonta, who you know, is in the home state of big tech companies like OpenAI and Google, was one of the ones who signed that letter.
He said he's really against anything that stops states from making and actually enforcing sensible rules. He thinks states need to be able to protect their people as AI keeps changing and getting more complex.
California, for example, passed a bunch of laws this year that would be blocked by this plan. They made it a crime to use AI to make fake naked pictures of people without asking first. They also said you can't use fake videos, or deepfakes, in political ads without permission. Plus, healthcare providers have to tell you if you're talking to a computer or a real person.
Oh, and get this, in California, those healthcare networks, like HMOs, aren't allowed to use AI instead of actual doctors to decide if you need a medical procedure. Pretty wild, right?
Now, the Republicans in the House said on Tuesday that this is necessary to help the government use AI, and they're even giving it $500 million for that. One Republican from California, Jay Obernolte, who represents part of Silicon Valley, said it makes no sense to give the government money for AI if states are gonna have a thousand different laws.
He said it would be impossible for any government agency that works everywhere to follow all those different rules. Even Google, one of those big AI companies, said this proposal is a good first step to keep the country safe and make sure America stays a leader in AI.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if this makes it to the Senate, though. It has to go through this budget thingy, which is usually just for stuff related to money. So, yeah, who knows what's gonna happen with this whole AI rule situation?
