NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Deep within Congress's "big beautiful" budget bill is a small provision many may not expect — the topic of artificial intelligence. If the federal government's budget passes, individual states would not be able to pass "any law or regulation" involving AI for 10 years.
Dr. Steve Nordstrom teaches graduate-level classes on AI at Lipscomb University. "I use AI every day, multiple times a day," said Dr. Steve Nordstrom, Associate Dean of the School of Computing at Lipscomb University.
Nordstrom says big tech companies have asked lawmakers for this rule for simplicity's sake. "They want one set of rules as opposed to 50 sets of rules," he said.
He says preventing regulations for 10 years would also give companies the flexibility to toy with the technology much more freely. "This gives them the freedom and the capabilities to do new and interesting things," Nordstrom said.
But he also believes there could be unintentional consequences. "You could cause serious harm to individuals or to companies that fall victim to some of the pitfalls of AI and its use," Nordstrom said. "States feel the responsibility to protect individuals and businesses and their constituents against that kind of harm."
The way the current budget bill is written, in addition to states not being able to write new AI laws, they also wouldn't be able to enforce existing AI laws. That means there are current Tennessee statutes that would essentially become null and void. Additionally, if states insist on enforcing AI-related laws, they would have to forfeit broadband expansion funding that extends the internet to rural communities.
One example of existing state laws that couldn't be enforced would be Tennessee's ELVIS Act, passed last year by the Tennessee Legislature. The ELVIS Act protects songwriters, musicians, and performers from their original work being used by AI without their permission or compensation.
Even staunch Republicans like Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti have warned about taking legislative power away from the states on this.
"We do not need a moratorium that would prohibit our states from stepping up and protecting citizens in their state," said Sen. Blackburn during a panel last week.
"There's really nothing to stop the tech companies from doing whatever they want," added Skrmetti.
All of this means the "big beautiful bill" could face a big showdown – not just on the budget, but on the future of AI. "AI is moving faster than any other kind of technology that we've ever seen in the last 250 years," Nordstrom said. "Things are moving so fast that we can't really predict what these new technologies are going to be as they're emerging."
Do you have more information about this story? Reach out to me at chris.davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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