GOP governors urge Sen Thune to nix AI moratorium

A group of 17 Republican governors asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to remove a 10-year moratorium on enforcing state and local artificial intelligence laws from the GOP’s megabill. In the biggest show of Republican resistance to the provision so far, the governors warned the language would undo existing state efforts to protect their citizens from the harm the technology could cause, and criticized the lack of “thoughtful” public debate over the measure. “While the legislation overall is very strong, there is one small portion of it that threatens to undo all the work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence,” the governors wrote. “We are writing to encourage congressional leadership to strip this provision from the bill before it goes to President Trump’s desk for his signature.” The letter was signed by the governors of Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.