Tech Giants Lobby Against State-Level AI Regulations in the US

Are OpenAI, Google, Meta plotting to take down state AI regulations?

US AI regulation 2025: Tech giants including OpenAI, Meta, and Google are stepping up efforts to block US states from regulating their rapidly growing artificial intelligence businesses, as per a report. These companies are lobbying both the White House and Republican-led Congress, after five states, including Texas, Colorado, California, Tennessee and New York passed significant AI-related laws, as reported by Bloomberg. Kouri Marshall, director of state government relations with tech trade group Chamber of Progress, pointed out that, "Lawmakers should be inviting innovation, not driving it away from the state," as quoted in the Bloomberg report. The group has major players like Andreessen Horowitz, Google, Apple, and Amazon among its members, according to the report. ALSO READ: Kamala Harris' '107 Days' book tour: Dates, cities, what to expect and when to get tickets While many of the new state AI regulations have yet to take full effect, industry advocates want to shift the focus away from regulating how AI is developed and instead concentrate on how AI is actually used by consumers and businesses, as per the Bloomberg report. After all, the companies that make early AI breakthroughs stand to gain trillions of dollars in market value, as reported by Bloomberg. Matt Perault, head of artificial intelligence policy at Andreessen Horowitz, highlighted that, "My hope is the focus moves away from trying to regulate development to regulating use" by individual customers, as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: Can ChatGPT help you get out of debt? What experts and users say about AI chatbots' financial advice In June, Republicans in Congress unsuccessfully tried to attach a 10-year ban on enforcing state AI regulations to US president Donald Trump's tax legislation, according to the Bloomberg report. Although that effort failed, tech companies successfully influenced White House advisers to version of the federal moratorium on state regulation in Trump's AI plan released in July, as per the report. That plan gives non-binding guidance to federal agencies, which includes a directive that AI-related federal funding should not go to states with "unduly restrictive" AI regulation, as reported by Bloomberg. While, industry lobbyists say companies are pushing again to attach the 10-year ban on state regulations to upcoming legislation, according to the report. ALSO READ: After billion-dollar hirings, Zuckerberg slams brakes on Meta's AI hiring spree as bubble fears shake Silicon Valley As AI technology increasingly takes on complex roles, such as screening job applications, identifying criminal suspects, processing medical claims, and creating realistic AI images, state lawmakers want to set some rules of the road, as reported by Bloomberg. However, federal AI legislation remains stalled due to political disagreements and opposition from tech-friendly lawmakers, according to the report. Meanwhile, some states are exploring rules that would require firms to conduct audits to prevent consumer harm, disclose when people are interacting with AI and ban the companies from copying artists' creative work, as reported by Bloomberg. ALSO READ: Move over quiet quitting -- as AI looms 'quiet cracking' is costing $438 billion and wrecking workers' health But the tech companies and venture capital firms which are backing AI startups worry that any regulation could slow their growth in this relatively new sector and navigating 50 different state rules would be a major challenge for the firms, according to the report. Hope Anderson, a privacy and AI lawyer with White & Case, told Bloomberg that the speed of technological change makes it "tricky" for the law to keep up, and more so if states enact a "patchwork" of differing regulations, as quoted in the report. Why are tech companies against state-level AI laws? Because 50 different rules would make it harder for them to scale and innovate quickly. What do the tech companies want instead? They prefer a single federal law focused on how AI is used, not how it's built.

Tech Companies Continue Push for Ban on State AI Regulations | PYMNTS.com

After an attempt to attach a 10-year ban to President Donald Trump's tax legislation failed in June, industry lobbyists aim to attach it to future legislation, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Aug. 21). In July, lobbyists successfully pushed for Trump's AI plan to include a directive to stop AI-related funding from going to states with "unduly restrictive" AI regulation, according to the report. States are considering a collective total of about 500 laws that would regulate the development and deployment of AI, the report said. Five states have already passed laws that apply to tech companies and more have passed ones that affect how businesses use the technology, per the report. Tech industry representatives argue that regulation would slow the development of AI, that a patchwork of state laws would be more difficult to deal with than federal legislation, and that regulations should apply to how the technology is used, rather than the tech itself, according to the report. Advocates of state regulations counter that the federal government has failed to pass comprehensive AI legislation, that the technology can be used to harm consumers and artists, and that states should be free to pass laws that protect their citizens, per the report. It was reported in June that the tech industry was divided over the proposed 10-year ban on state regulation of AI models. While some industry representatives said regulation would slow the progress of the technology and impede the U.S. in its competition with China, others said the ban would favor Big Tech companies and prevent accountability for those who build technology that could cause foreseeable harm. Senators voted 99-1 in July to remove the proposed ban from Trump's tax legislation. The move was seen as a defeat for Big Tech companies. It was reported in March that while state legislators were introduced AI-related bills at a record pace, the bills tended to have more of a pro-innovation intent than a stricter, European Union-style focus on reigning in risks.