Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders is coming out swinging against a provision of the congressional budget reconciliation bill that would prohibit state regulation of certain artificial intelligence technologies for 10 years.
“This technology is changing every single day, and we simply cannot wait 10 years to ban abusive content like AI child pornography,” Sanders told The Daily Signal.
Sanders has joined a chorus of voices opposing the provision, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and members of the House Freedom Caucus.
Greene has said she will not vote for the budget bill if the provision is included.
“I am 100% opposed, and I will not vote for any bill that destroys federalism and takes away states’ rights’ ability to regulate and make laws when it regards humans and AI,” the Georgia congresswoman explained to reporters.
“Congressional Republicans like Sen. Blackburn, Sen. Hawley, and members of the House Freedom Caucus are right: The One, Big, Beautiful Bill will be a huge win for the American people, but can’t include a provision that strips states of their right to regulate AI,” Sanders told The Daily Signal, referring to Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
The provision in the Senate version of the budget bill would prevent states from receiving federal funds for broadband if they enforced their AI regulation laws. The House version of the provision simply banned all current state AI laws and prohibited the passage of future ones.
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, Sanders explained that Arkansas had already sought to curb some illicit uses of AI.
“In Arkansas, our legislature created basic copyright guidelines for generative AI, protected Arkansans from the nonconsensual use of their likenesses and, most importantly, prohibited the creation of sexually explicit AI images of real people—especially children,” the governor explained.
Sanders noted that there is no guarantee the federal government would be able to respond fast enough to the potential problems that might come from the emerging technology.
“If Congress’s glacial movement to protect kids from the harms of social media is any indication, the body would be paralyzed by industry lobbying and fail to act. And as that debate went on, states like Arkansas would be unable to ban AI child pornography for a full decade,” Sanders contended.
The Arkansas governor has been at the forefront of making the conservative agenda a priority in Republican-led states.
Sanders signed bipartisan legislation in February that allows each Arkansas child to get free breakfast before the school day even if they did not qualify for subsidized free or reduced-price meals under federal regulations.
In June, the governor led the charge to make Arkansans healthy again by getting a waiver to ban junk foods from the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Sanders has also sought to limit undue foreign influence in her state by passing legislation that prevents companies that own crypto mines in Arkansas from being owned by foreign parties, such as nationals from China.
