Tuesday, July 1, 2025
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HomeA.ISen. Marsha Blackburn Removes AI Moratorium from Comprehensive Legislation

Sen. Marsha Blackburn Removes AI Moratorium from Comprehensive Legislation


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  • Senator Marsha Blackburn removed the AI moratorium from President Trump’s bill.
  • The original provision banned states from enforcing AI laws for 10 years, later revised to 5 years.
  • Blackburn’s amendment to remove the moratorium passed with an overwhelming majority.
  • Tennessee’s Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, protecting artists from AI misuse, remains enforceable.

Early on the morning of July 1, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., stripped the controversial AI moratorium from President Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill.’

The original provision in President Donald Trump‘s sprawling tax and policy bill package would have imposed a decade-long ban on states’ enforcement of laws or regulations addressing AI.

After uproar, Senators Blackburn and Ted Cruz, R.-Texas, agreed on a revised version that aimed to protect children and artists, lessening the moratorium from 10 to 5 years. Critics — including children’s online safety and music groups — still felt legal loopholes could leave Americans vulnerable to misuses of AI.

Blackburn’s amendment to strike the moratorium passed by a vote of 99 to 1.

“For as long as I’ve been in Congress, I’ve worked alongside federal and state legislators, parents seeking to protect their kids online, and the creative community in Tennessee to fight back against Big Tech’s exploitation by passing legislation to govern the virtual space,” Blackburn said in a statement.

“While I appreciate Chairman Cruz’s efforts to find acceptable language that allows states to protect their citizens from the abuses of AI, the current language is not acceptable to those who need these protections the most.

“This provision could allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives. Until Congress passes federally preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from making laws that protect their citizens.”

In 2024, Tennessee made history by becoming the first state in the country to enact protections for artists against the misuse of artificial intelligence.

The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, which will remain enforceable in the midst of the struck moratorium, protects artists from unauthorized uses of their voice and likeness in deepfakes and digital replicas.

Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.



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