Big Tech’s final push for AI regulation

For months, Big Tech lobbyists in Washington have been chasing the holy grail of pro-AI legislation: immunity. This would be a federal law, submitted to Congress and signed by the president, to implement AI laws throughout the country and defeat the state-by-state interference process. For months, lobbyists have faced roadblocks and political pushback across the country, and now they face the possibility that after the midterms, Congress will turn to Democrats who don’t want to work with them.

But their last, desperate attempt to succeed comes with a new burden, related to a very different battle in Congress that began with the public launch of ChatGPT: child protection.

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that The White House told child protection groups and Big Tech companies that they will approve the plan for the protection of children on the Internet with the help of Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), co-author of Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)as part of the overall security package. Although the issue of cyber security is well suited to AI, it is only one part of a larger, complex issue that may need to be addressed by clear laws: border security, discrimination, environmental issues, and so on.

Regardless, the potential deal has hit a snag: The White House appears not to have informed House Republicans, who had just submitted their version of NO, that they were running on Blackburn’s legislation as a vehicle. Democrats who worked with Blackburn on the KOSA Senate flavor say they have been left out as well. On top of that, there was a bipartisan AI autonomy bill floating around the House.

It led to a week of confusion for advocates of both policies: AI self-defense and child protection could be linked together to ensure that the exemption is signed into law, but who The type of protection for children passing through is not known. Was it too strict for the Senate? Was it the liberal version supported by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA)? And where was the White House in all of this?

“No one knows who’s running this thing,” a Republican lobbyist for a mid-sized tech company said Seaside. “Everyone is very skeptical about the movement of (the bill), because everyone is on different pages. I don’t think the House will move anything that Blackburn wants.”

While the fight to oversee AI has led to serious disagreements between the GOP leadership and their most prominent members, President Donald Trump himself has said so. asked for an AI licensemeaning that the Republican Party must somehow make this happen. Today, the White House’s proposal is to try to improve the immunity process that was carried out by Mike Davis, a lawyer associated with Trump and the founder of the Article III Project, which he led. a successful attempt to kill a different AI system in the Senate last year.

In fact, in order to receive Davis approval, an immunity clause must protect several conditions. Davis called it the “Four Cs”: children, conservatives, producers, and communities. Some of the facts were included in the articles of The White House documents the full AI lawreleased in March this year, and the inclusion of KOSA met the requirements of “children”. But Davis said Seaside that they want any laws to deal with all of this. “There’s no chance in hell that AI Rescue will pass if it doesn’t solve the four Cs. I’ll make sure of that.”

Advancing KOSA, however, involves reconciling major differences between the House and Senate versions of the same bill. The Senate version would requires technology companies to do “care work,” safety measures to protect young users, increasing the responsibility for AI companies. However, the House version, led by Scalise, overturned this late last November, to the ire of child protection advocates. The House’s exclusion from White House negotiations, therefore, was notable to observers. “(Blackburn) doesn’t really want the House AT ALL,” said Michael Toscano, director and director of the Family First Technology Initiative for the conservative Institute for Family Studies.

Even if Trump were to whip House Republicans into line, he would have another problem: congressional Democrats, who learned of Blackburn’s talks with the White House at the same time House Republicans did. Although the Senate KOSA was supported by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and it passed 91-3 in 2024, they did not know that their legislation would now be dedicated to the illegal purpose of AI. “If they (Blackburn and the White House) are looking at a standing bill, it should pass through the Legislature,” said the AI ​​policy advocate, noting that the new version of the bill would need 60 votes – therefore, Democrats – to pass.

And even if the bill has a little popularity, the system will not allow it. “It’s the middle of June. You have a month and a half before people leave for vacation (for five weeks). “There’s no way.” The remaining weeks on the legislative calendar are already being absorbed by the latest: the renewal FISAimmigration package, increased defense spending for Trump’s war with Iran, the crypto market bill, payment systems, and the controversial SAVE America bill. Oh, and regular budget items such as Medicaid.

Having freedom and KOSA tied together presents Big Tech with a difficult choice: Do they want protection from federal AI more than they want protection from the “duty of care”? And they don’t have much time to make this decision, said the Republican tech lobbyist, especially if the Democrats take one chamber. “After the election, what incentive do Democrats have to support anything? Like, why not say, ‘What about you, we’re going to do what we want in the new Congress?’ I doubt it very much.”

Austin Carson, the former director of Nvidia’s government and the founder of SeedAI, a non-profit focused on the accessibility of AI to the community, was skeptical that the simple marriage of KOSA-preemption shotgun will succeed. “I can’t imagine how (this bill) would move,” he said Seaside. “I can’t imagine.”