To Congress: Let states protect people in the AI age

AI is increasingly being used in ways that impact everyday people’s ability to find work, get healthcare, and access basic needs like food and housing.

70% of Californians want the government to establish safeguards around AI systems that prevent the most common harms. Americans overall are on the same page, as seen in polling from Pew Research Center, Quinnipiac University, and the Artificial Intelligence Policy Institute.

Yet, Congress and the White House are doubling down on efforts to block state AI legislation. Following an earlier failed attempt to put a moratorium on state AI legislation, House Republicans proposed language to be included in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit state and local AI and automated decision-system (ADS) regulation.

The White House developed its own attempts to preempt AI safeguards through an executive order that would establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” to challenge state AI laws and withhold federal funding from states with AI regulations deemed “burdensome.” 

While both efforts appear likely to fail, the threat isn’t over. Preemption could resurface as a part of a legislative trade-off where proponents propose narrow AI transparency legislation as chips in a “trade” to convince members of California’s congressional delegation to support preemption.

That’s why we joined over two dozen other California-based organizations, including Common Sense Media, PowerSwitch Action, and SEIU California, in a letter to Senators Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, and California’s congressional representatives to vocalize our opposition to the federal preemption of state AI laws.

The letter urges them to be the voice of Californians who are demanding real regulation by publicly opposing attempts to force AI preemption into federal legislation or through executive order. It also makes clear that while narrow pieces of legislation are important, they are small, transparency-focused first steps in addressing what is the fastest-moving technology in human history.

Read the letter for the full details:

We also signed onto Demand Progress’s letter opposing federal preemption laws that was sent to ranking members of Congress, not just California representatives.