We, the Green Web Foundation, join many organizations committed to protecting civil rights, promoting consumer protections, and fostering responsible innovation in expressing our strong opposition to a provision in the US House Energy and Commerce Committee Draft Budget Resolution, passed out of committee on May 14, that would preempt state and local laws governing artificial intelligence (AI). In a joint letter coordinated by Demand Progress, we call on members of the US Congress to reject this undemocratic proposal.
The scope of Section 43201(c) “Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Modernization Initiative: Moratorium” is sweeping. As AI systems increasingly shape critical aspects of our lives—including hiring, housing, healthcare, policing, and financial services—states have taken important steps to protect their residents from the risks posed by unregulated or inadequately governed AI technologies.
The joint letter led by Demand Progress explains:
“This total immunity provision blocks enforcement of all state and local legislation governing AI systems, AI models, or automated decision systems for a full decade, despite those states moving those protections through their legislative processes, which include input from stakeholders, hearings, and multistakeholder deliberations. This moratorium would mean that even if a company deliberately designs an algorithm that causes foreseeable harm — regardless of how intentional or egregious the misconduct or how devastating the consequences — the company making or using that bad tech would be unaccountable to lawmakers and the public. In many cases, it would make it virtually impossible to achieve a level of transparency into the AI system necessary for state regulators to even enforce laws of general applicability, such as tort or antidiscrimination law.”
The attempt to block state legislation governing AI is happening against a backdrop of the major AI companies lobbying states like California seeking to regulate AI systems.
In our work to transition the internet and digital infrastructure away from fossil fuels, we know it’s critical for national and local governments to enforce transparency around the environmental impact of AI systems and infrastructure. In the policy radar we co-developed with the Green Software Foundation, you can see that the US states of New York and California are developing bills for corporate climate accountability. Residents deserve both meaningful federal protections and the ability of their states to lead in advancing safety, fairness, and accountability when AI systems cause harm.
Other concerned organizations can sign the letter or write their representatives.
