Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has yanked a controversial component of President Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ that would ban all states from enforcing laws or regulations related to AI for a total of 10 years.
Blackburn’s proposal to erase the ban passed with flying colors, with a 99-1 vote.
This marks a massive loss for Silicon Valley leaders and White House officials alike who advocated for the measure.
Companies that pushed the measure include Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc., as well as venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz. Trump Silicon Valley allies such as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Anduril Industries Inc. founder Palmer Luckey and Palantir Technologies Inc. co-founder Joe Lonsdale all wanted the restriction as well, according to Bloomberg.
Palantir and the Trump admin are quite familiar — company co-founder Peter Thiel is notably a mentor and longtime friend of Vice President JD Vance.
Uporar ensued, leading Blackburn and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to accept a modified version that hopes to safeguard children and artists by shortening the ban from 10 years to 5, The Tennessean reports.
“For as long as I’ve been in Congress, I’ve worked alongside federal and state legislators, parents seeking to protect their kids online,