A few
weeks ago, I was
with my son at a
go-kart track when
my phone rang.
It
was an AG from
another state. I
picked up and he
quickly said, “You
need to read page
276 of the House
bill that just
dropped.”
He
was talking about
the gigantic, 1,000-page
budget bill that is
still consuming
D.C.’s attention.
It
turns out, a few
short paragraphs
were wedged in there
- Section 43,201 -
that could wipe out
years of consumer
protection laws in
states across the
country.
Here’s the key line:
“[N]o
State or political
subdivision thereof
may enforce, during
the 10-year period
beginning on the
date of the
enactment of this
Act, any law or
regulation limiting,
restricting, or
otherwise regulating
artificial
intelligence [models].”
In
plain English, this
means that no state
can pass or enforce
any A.I. consumer or
voter protection
laws for
the next 10 years.
But
what if your state
already has those
laws on the books?
This
provision would seek
to ban them.
That
means existing laws
that block A.I.-generated
deepfakes designed
to mislead voters,
or that prevent
scammers from
digitally cloning
your voice to fool
your family, or that
ban mass robocalls
generated by
language models
could all
potentially get
nixed.
Now,
the argument in
favor of this
idea is basically
that, instead of
having 50 different
states go in 50
different directions,
Congress should
create one national
set of safeguards.
I get
that. There’s a case
for it.
But
here’s the problem: Congress
won’t do it.
They
didn’t do it with
the internet, or
privacy, or social
media - not even to
protect kids.
I was
in Congress - last
year. I watched
many thoughtful,
bipartisan A.I.
bills get filed.
Some had
overwhelming support
and were
laser-focused on
protecting consumers.
None
of them passed. They
were all dead on
arrival.
And
now Congress is
saying, “We know
we know we know - but
this time, we’re
gonna do it.”
The
thing is, there’s an
easy fix here. All
they have to do is
pass a bill putting
up some A.I.
safeguards for
consumers and voters before they
pass a bill that
tries to ban all of
ours, and then
they’ll have a
strong position.
But
until then, these
are massive dice to
roll. We all know
this technology is
going to get
exponentially more
powerful over the
next decade and the
thought of having zero
safeguards in
place for that
entire period is
truly unnerving.
That’s why 40
attorneys general -
including members of
both parties -
signed a letter
opposing it.
I
also made a video
addressing Congress
directly about this. Here it
is:
Another win:
Americorps
Last
time you heard from
me, I told you we
were filing a
lawsuit against the
federal
administration after
it attempted to
unlawfully defund
AmeriCorps.
Why?
Because Congress
authorized
AmeriCorps funding,
and the executive
branch cannot
unilaterally cut it.
Moreover, it would
have hit western
North Carolina
especially hard as
it’s rebuilding from
Hurricane Helene.
AmeriCorps has a
strong presence
there.
Well,
we just won an
injunction to stop
those cuts from
happening. That’s
good news for WNC.
Supreme
Court Investiture
Finally, I had the
wonderful
opportunity to play
a small, formal role
in the investiture
of our newest state
Supreme Court
Justice, Allison
Riggs.
It
was my honor to
report to the full
court that Justice
Riggs had been duly
elected and is
prepared to take the
oath of office.
She
then took that oath,
and took her seat
with her fellow
Justices.
Best,
Jeff
Jackson
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