The White House is pressuring Republican state lawmakers to abandon AI regulation efforts, threatening to withhold federal broadband funding from states with AI laws deemed overly burdensome. President Trump's December executive order established an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge conflicting state AI laws and indicated states could lose access to non-deployment funds from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. In Missouri, GOP state Senator Joe Nicola's AI liability bill stalled amid fears of jeopardizing $900 million in remaining federal broadband funds from the state's $1.7 billion total allocation. The bill would have established that liability for AI-caused harm always resides with a person or organization, while other proposed amendments addressed age verification for AI chatbots and restrictions on AI prescribing medication. The federal pressure campaign effectively uses broadband funding as leverage to preempt state-level AI regulation in favor of national policy.
Federal pressure threatening state AI regulation efforts
- ▪The Trump administration issued a national AI policy framework on March 20 to guide federal lawmakers
- ▪The federal government postponed guidance to states on how they can spend non-deployment broadband funds in early 2025
- ▪President Donald Trump's executive order indicated that states with overly burdensome AI laws would be ineligible to receive remaining non-deployment funds from the $42.5 billion federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program
- ▪President Donald Trump issued an executive order in December establishing an AI Litigation Task Force within the U.S. Office of the Attorney General to challenge state AI laws that conflict with national policy
- ▪U.S. Senator Joni Ernst filed a bill in November to claw back $21 billion in broadband program savings to the U.S. Treasury
Missouri's proposed AI liability and safety legislation
- ▪Missouri state Senator Joe Nicola's AI bill would prohibit AI from being granted legal personhood, owning property, or being an officer of a corporation
- ▪Republican state Senator Brad Hudson of Cape Fair sponsored an amendment requiring age verification to restrict minors' use of AI chatbots
- ▪Missouri GOP state Senator Joe Nicola of Grain Valley sponsored a bill specifying that liability for harm caused by an AI system always resides with a person or organization
- ▪Missouri Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck sponsored an amendment to prohibit the use of AI to prescribe medication or controlled substances
- ▪Democratic state Senator Patty Lewis of Kansas City sponsored a bill making it unlawful for people who develop or publish AI to advertise that AI can provide professional mental health services
Impact on rural broadband funding and state response
- ▪Missouri has $900 million in non-deployment funds remaining from the state's original broadband allocation
- ▪Missouri was awarded $1.7 billion through the federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program in August
- ▪Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe announced in January that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved Missouri's $814 million final broadband spending plan
- ▪The National Telecommunications and Information Administration gave states 90 days in June to redo their broadband selection processes implementing new priorities
- ▪Missouri's approved broadband spending plan aims to connect more than 200,000 unserved or underserved locations to high-speed internet statewide
- ▪Missouri state Senator Joe Nicola's AI regulation bill stalled in the state Senate amid fears the legislation could jeopardize nearly $900 million in remaining federal broadband funds
Perspective of Missouri GOP state Senator Joe Nicola
- ▪Missouri GOP state Senator Joe Nicola's AI regulation bill faced pressure from the White House threatening federal broadband funding
Perspective of Trump administration
- ▪The Trump administration is using federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program funding as leverage to discourage state AI regulations
Perspective of Missouri state officials seeking broadband funding
- ▪Missouri state officials fear that passing AI regulation legislation could jeopardize the state's $900 million in remaining federal broadband funds
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