Silicon Valley's war against state AI laws is over, and the tech lobby is throwing in the towel. State legislators, emboldened by public outrage and a surge in pro-regulation dollars, are now defiantly pushing through bills to address the safety of advanced models, new AI auditing standards, chatbot protections for kids, and the impact of data centers. The tech industry's effort to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence is on the verge of collapse, as legislators from across the country lose their fear of Silicon Valley. Interviews with state lawmakers, tech representatives, and AI regulation advocates reveal a defiant mood sweeping through statehouses, with legislators ignoring warnings from the tech lobby and its Washington allies about an unworkable "patchwork" of conflicting laws. The lawmakers are driven by surging public opposition to the AI industry and buoyed by the emergence of well-financed groups favoring tough regulations. Both the White House and Capitol Hill appear unable or unwilling to halt their momentum, and tech lobbyists who had planned to strong-arm or freeze out the states are now rushing to work with them before it’s too late.
One key figure in this shift is Mary Edly-Allen, a Democratic state senator from Illinois, who was the chief sponsor of a new law requiring top AI developers to submit to independent audits of their safety plans. "We are the Davids now, against the Goliaths," she said. In Massachusetts, lawmakers are advancing an AI safety bill even tougher than those approved by Illinois, California, and New York. Rhode Island passed a law in June requiring new guardrails for AI chatbots, part of a nationwide surge in state proposals addressing the technology’s psychological harms. California legislators are pushing through an aggressive package of bills, including rules on AI audits, chatbots, and data privacy. Even deep-red states like Utah and South Carolina are spinning into action, as key legislators renew pushes for AI and kids’ safety proposals.
This shift is a stark contrast to late last year, when President Donald Trump’s threat to sue states over their AI laws sparked apprehension among legislators and governors of both parties. Leading the Future, a super PAC network flush with more than $100 million from OpenAI President Greg Brockman and venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, sent an additional chill across statehouses as it prepared to back candidates who opposed state AI rules. However, when Adam Billen, co-executive director of the pro-regulation group Encode AI, attended a gathering of hundreds of state legislators in Chicago in late July, he found them eager to discuss their plans for AI laws and dismiss potential threats from the tech sector. "Legislators just didn’t really seem to care," Billen said. "If anything, they were kind of pissed off and emboldened."
The public pressure is undermining prior threats from the tech lobby to challenge lawmakers who advance objectionable AI laws. "If you’re fundamentally afoul of the sense of society or the electorate as a whole, it doesn’t matter how much money you have," said Steve Padilla, a Democratic state senator from California. "The industry understands where voters — by huge, bipartisan margins — are on these issues. And they’re not going to win that argument."
In fact, some legislators said industry efforts to punish pro-regulation lawmakers may be backfiring. Alex Bores, a Democratic assemblymember from New York who narrowly lost a House primary race after Leading the Future spent millions against him, has emerged as an inspiration for legislators itching for a fight with the AI lobby. Similarly, Utah’s Fiefia said he believes his opponent in June’s state Senate primary was harmed by his pro-AI stance and endorsements from industry groups like Leading the Future. The vacuum created by Washington leaves governors as a "backstop" that can block onerous state AI laws, according to the American Innovators Network’s Kudon. Governors won’t be able to protect Silicon Valley much longer, several state legislators said. Even some who had previously backed many of the AI industry’s priorities are moving to curb new data center projects in the face of rising public outrage.
In conclusion, the war against state AI laws is over, and the tech lobby is losing. The public is demanding regulation, and state legislators are responding. The future of AI regulation is uncertain, but one thing is clear: the tech industry’s effort to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence is on the verge of collapse.
