House Panel Divided on 10-Year AI Moratorium

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2025 – A House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday quickly turned into a debate over a Republican proposal to freeze new state-level artificial intelligence laws for the next decade.

At a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Democratic lawmakers denounced the 10-year moratorium passed by House Republicans in a recent budget reconciliation package as a “dangerous” restriction that would limit states’ ability to respond to AI-related harms.

“The 10-year AI state moratorium that my Republican colleagues jammed through in their reconciliation bill is so misguided and dangerous,” said Ranking Member Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. “We can't afford a 10-year hold on a state's ability to identify and protect the American people from AI.”

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said he was "working with the Senate parliamentarian” to rule the provision out of order under the so-called Byrd Rule.

Pallone also tied the U.S. AI leadership to the necessity to speed broadband deployment efforts under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, arguing that robust fiber infrastructure was critical to maintaining U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.

“For no good reason this administration continues to stand still on dolling out one of the key demands of AI. That's fiber,” Pallone said. “Programs designed to bring high-capacity fiber to both data centers and our homes are critical if America wants to continue to lead the world in AI.”

“Any delays in connecting every home and business to reliable high-speed internet only benefit our foreign adversaries,” Pallone said. “I urge the Trump administration to get out of its own way and let the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $42 billion BEAD program move forward as intended.”

Witnesses were divided on the 10-year delay.

Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS, backed a temporary pause in state policymaking, saying he supported “a pause or temporary moratorium so that this committee can find a way to create a national framework.”

Other witnesses disagreed, saying the move marked a sharp break from how transformative technologies have been regulated in the past.

“The state AI law moratorium recently passed by the House would wipe away guardrails protecting real people from real harms, not to mention its unintended consequences,” said Asad Ramzanali, director of AI and technology policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator at Vanderbilt University. 

“Some AI-caused or AI-accelerated harms require new regulations, and states have taken the lead on this front,” Ramzanali said. “It is worth noting that state laws do things like require basic transparency, prevent scams, and protect renters from algorithmic predatory pricing.”

Nvidia’s senior vice president of telecom Ronnie Vasishta brought urgency to the issue. “The countries that build AI infrastructure will define the rules, reap the rewards, and shape the next era,” Vasishta said.