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The US Senate voted for a 10-year ban proposal for a state that regulates artificial intelligence models, ending a controversial plan backed by large tech companies.
The senator voted for one from a margin of 99 in support of an amendment to remove the wording from Donald Trump’s flagship tax and expenditure law.
The early morning vote came on Tuesday as part of a broader marathon voting session in the Senate over the US President’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Advocates, including major tech companies, argued that regulations restricting AI regulations are necessary to curb innovation and prevent inconsistent regional regulations that could lead the US to lose its status in China.
But it was causing division within the Republican Party.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick supported the five-year curb on AI state regulation as a compromise, saying in a message on social media site X that the US “needs to take it seriously in the AI race.”
However, the proposed moratorium was criticized by some Republican politicians. Republican politicians have raised concerns about the state’s ban on overseeing powerful technologies that could cause social and economic upheavals.
AI safety campaigners also warned that relying on self-regulation could have dire social consequences as Silicon Valley competes to release stronger models than ever before.
This provision was included in the tax and expenditure bill as part of the US House version of the proposed law.
