AI regulation push runs into child safety fight in Congress
The White House is weighing a package that links federal AI preemption to children’s online safety rules, The Verge reported.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
4 min read
The White House is trying to pair a national AI regulation bill with children’s online safety legislation, The Verge reported, a move that could complicate Big Tech’s push for a single federal standard. The effort matters because a federal preemption law would override state-by-state AI rules, a priority for technology lobbyists facing a tighter political calendar before the midterm elections.
According to The Verge, tech lobbyists have spent months seeking a federal AI framework that would set one nationwide rulebook. The push has drawn resistance and could become harder if Democrats gain power in Congress after the midterms, The Verge reported.
The latest proposal would connect AI preemption with online child safety bills associated with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican who coauthored the Kids Online Safety Act, according to The Verge. The Washington Post previously reported that the White House had told child safety groups and large tech companies it would support a set of children’s online safety laws backed by Blackburn as part of a broader preemption package.
A crowded legislative deal
The Verge reported that the plan has created confusion because House Republicans had passed their own version of KOSA and were apparently not told the White House was looking to Blackburn’s bill as the vehicle. Democrats who worked with Blackburn on the Senate version also were not included in the discussions, according to The Verge.
The situation is further complicated by a separate bipartisan AI preemption proposal in the House, The Verge reported. The central uncertainty is which child safety bill would be attached to any AI package: the Senate’s stricter version or the House version backed by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
A Republican lobbyist for a midsize tech company told The Verge that backers were unsure who was directing the effort and doubted the bill could advance because lawmakers were not aligned. The lobbyist also said the House was unlikely to move a bill Blackburn wanted, according to The Verge.
President Donald Trump has called for passage of an AI preemption bill on Truth Social, The Verge reported. Inside the White House, policy staff are considering an approach influenced by Mike Davis, a Trump-aligned lawyer and founder of the Article III Project, according to The Verge.
The “Four Cs” test
Davis has said AI preemption legislation should protect what he calls the “Four Cs”: children, conservatives, creators and communities, The Verge reported. The White House released a draft AI legislative framework in March that included some of those priorities, and adding KOSA would address the children category, according to The Verge.
Davis told The Verge he would oppose any AI preemption bill that did not address all four categories. His stance matters because The Verge reported that Davis helped defeat a separate AI moratorium in the Senate last year.
The biggest child safety dispute concerns the “duty of care” requirement in the Senate version of KOSA, according to The Verge. That provision would require tech companies to take preventive steps to protect young users and would apply to AI companies as well, The Verge reported.
The House version led by Scalise weakened that provision late last November, angering child safety advocates, according to The Verge. Michael Toscano, a senior fellow and director of the Family First Technology Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies, told The Verge that Blackburn does not want the House version.
Time is running short
Any revised standalone bill would need to pass the Senate, where 60 votes would require Democratic support, an AI policy advocate told The Verge. That advocate said the June calendar leaves little time before lawmakers leave for a five-week recess and then turn to election season.
The Verge reported that Congress is already dealing with other priorities, including FISA renewal, immigration legislation, defense spending tied to Trump’s war with Iran, a crypto market structure bill, affordability measures, the SAVE America election bill and budget items such as Medicaid.
The package could force tech companies to choose between broad federal AI preemption and avoiding stronger duty-of-care rules, The Verge reported. Austin Carson, a former Nvidia government relations official and founder of the nonprofit SeedAI, told The Verge he could not see the combined bill advancing.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.