Congress is considering a proposal to ban states from regulating AI and automated decision systems. Such a ban would preempt state efforts to, among other things, prevent the use of algorithmic technology in creating unsafe, unfair, or discriminatory outcomes in government programs; regulate landlords’ use of algorithms to set rents; and govern AI-generated non-consensual intimate imagery. The ban is currently included in the US budget reconciliation bill. Even if the proposal fails in the government’s budget, a “federal moratorium” on state AI regulation is likely to remain a centerpiece in congressional legislative efforts. 

There are many good reasons to oppose a ban on state regulation of AI. Blocking state regulation would inhibit, not promote, innovation; erode protections for workers and consumers; and concentrate the tech industry’s market power, harming US democracy. In this brief, part of our series focused on myths of AI, we focus on countering specific arguments being made in favor of the moratorium.

Read the earlier brief in this series, Dispelling Myths of AI and Efficiency, and watch for more in the coming weeks and months.