AI Regulatory Moratorium: A Compendium of Perspectives

[Last updated 7/11/25]

[Note: On July 1, 2025, the U.S. Senate stripped the moratorium language from the budget bill.]

Congress is currently considering a moratorium on state and local artificial intelligence (AI) regulation. The proposed federal AI moratorium is currently part of a budget reconciliation bill that has passed the House of Representatives and is now under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The proposal would prevent any state or its political subdivisions (like cities or counties) from enforcing any law or regulation that specifically targets artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems. This prohibition would last for a 10-year period starting from the date the Act is enacted. There are, however, some exceptions to the moratorium and the Senate version differs slightly from the version that passed the House. The AI moratorium currently under consideration would not apply to laws that carry a criminal penalty. Nor would it apply to generally applicable laws that are technology-neutral and do not single out AI systems.

The AI moratorium proposal has generated intense debate in Congress, media, and policy circles. This compendium includes a listing of major media coverage of the proposal, as well as supporting and opposing perspectives. A list of my own writing about the idea — and state AI regulation more generally — is also listed at the end. This compendium will be updated to include new material as it is brought to my attention. I welcome suggestions for how to update and improve the document. Articles in each section are listed in reverse chronological order.

GENERAL MEDIA COVERAGE:

• Tina Ngyyen, “The unholy alliance that killed the AI moratorium,” The Verge, July 11, 2025.
• Philip Athey, “Path forward on AI highlights rifts among Republicans on Capitol Hill,” National Journal, July 10, 2025.
• Ian Krietzberg, “The A.I. Moratorium War Is Just Beginning…” Puck News, July 8, 2025.
• Ali Swenson, “How a GOP rift over tech regulation doomed a ban on state AI laws in Trump’s tax bill,” Associated Press, July 3, 2025.
• Amrith Ramkumar, “How a Bold Plan to Ban State AI Laws Fell Apart — and Divided Trumpworld,” Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2025.
• Anthony Adragna, “Love it or hate it, the AI moratorium will be back,” Politico, July 2, 2025.
• Emily Birnbaum, Oma Seddiq, and Steven T. Dennis, “Senate Removes Tax Bill Provision Limiting State AI Regulation,” Bloomberg, July 1, 2025.
• David Morgan and David Shepardson, “US Senate strikes AI regulation ban from Trump megabill,” Reuters, July 1, 2025.
• Cecilia Kang, “Senate’s New A.I. Moratorium Proposal Draws Fresh Criticism,” New York Times, June 30, 2025.
• Mohar Chatterjee, “Blackburn, Cruz find potential truce on state AI moratorium, child online safety,” Politico, June 29, 2025.
• Rebecca Bellan & Maxwell Zeff, “Congress might block state AI laws for a decade. Here’s what it means.” TechCrunch, June 27, 2025.
• Charlie Mitchell, “Opposing sides in AI ‘pause’ fight make closing arguments as bill nears Senate floor action,” Inside AI Policy, June 26, 2025.
• Charlie Mitchell, “Sen. Cruz retools language in reconciliation bill restricting state action on AI,” Inside AI Policy, June 24, 2025.
• Jack Nicastro, “Senate one step closer to passing 10-year halt on state AI regulation,” Reason, June 24, 2025.
• Jon Reed, “A Federal Moratorium on State AI Rules Is Inching Closer to Passing. Why It Matters,” CNET.com, June 24, 2025.
• Justin Hendrix, “Proposed Federal Moratorium on State AI Laws Clears Hurdle in US Senate,” Tech Policy Press, June 22, 2025.
• Patrick Gleason, “Moratorium On State AI Regulation Draws Some GOP Fire, But Also Praise,” Forbes, June 19, 2025.
• Miranda Nazzaro, “AI moratorium sparks GOP battle over states’ rights,” The Hill, June 18, 2025.
• Chris Teale, “Senate reconciliation bill text tweaks state AI regulation ban,” Route Fifty, June 9, 2025.
• Megan Loe, “What we know about ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ banning states from regulating AI for 10 years,” Snopes, June 7, 2025.
• George Caldwell, “Artificial Intelligence Regulation Hotly Debated on Hill,” TheDaily Signal, June 06, 2025
• Jon Brodkin, “Ted Cruz bill: States that regulate AI will be cut out of $42B broadband fund,” Ars Technica, June 6, 2025.
• Will Oremus, “State lawmakers to Congress: Don’t stop us from regulating AI,” Washington Post, June 3, 2025.
• Gregory Ferenstein, “Governor Polis signed Colorado’s restrictive AI law, but supports a federal moratorium on similar legislation,” Reason, June 2, 2025.
• Reed Albergotti, “Anthropic emerges as an adversary to Trump’s big bill,” Semafor, May 30, 2025.
• Andrew R. Lee, Jason M. Loring & Graham H. Ryan, “US House of Representatives Advance Unprecedented 10-Year Moratorium on State AI Laws,” National Law Review, May 28, 2025.
• PODCAST: “AI on the Senate Floor: Is it Time for a Moratorium?” Federalist Society Tech Roundup Episode #27, May 28, 2025.
• Rebecca Ruiz, “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would ban states from regulating AI,” Mashable, May 25, 2025.
• Justin Hendrix & Cristiano Lima-Strong, US House Passes 10-Year Moratorium on State AI Laws,” Tech Policy Press, May 22, 2025.
• Will Oremus, “A bid to bar states from regulating AI is getting pushback,” Washington Post, May 22, 2025.
• Anthony Adragna, “Ted Cruz says his AI bill will have a moratorium on state regulations,” Politico Pro, May 15, 2025.
• Justin Hendrix, “US House Committee Advances 10-Year Moratorium on State AI Regulation,” Tech Policy Press, May 14, 2025.
• Chris Teale, “House budget bill would put 10-year pause on state AI regulation,” Route Fifty, May 14, 2025..
• Will Oremus, “House GOP eyes moratorium on state AI laws,” Washington Post, May 13, 2025.
• Zach Williams, “Colorado Gov. Polis Supports Federal Moratorium on State AI Laws,” Bloomberg Government, May 13, 2025..
• Max Rieper, “Congress’ Plan to Break Up the Patchwork of State AI Laws,” Multistate.AI, May 16, 2025.
• Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, “Policy analysis: US House committee seeks moratorium on state AI rules,” IAPP Blog, May 13, 2025.
• Jedidiah Bracy, “House Commerce Committee floats 10-year moratorium on state-level AI enforcement,” IAPP Blog, May 12, 2025.

SUPPORT:

• Jim Harper, “As Congress Releases the AI Regulatory Hounds, A Reminder,” AEIdeas, July 8, 2025.
• James Czerniawski, “An important new AI battle is just beginning,” Washington Examiner,
• Daniel Castro, “Five Reasons Why Critics Were Wrong About the AI Moratorium,” Center for Data Innovation, July 2, 2025.
• George P. Bush, “To beat China on AI, we must block mishmash of state rules on development,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 2, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “The AI Regulatory Moratorium Fails: What Comes Next?” Medium, July 1, 2025.
• Taylor Barkley and Edward Longe, “AI regulation’s state-by-state chaos shows the need for federal leadership,” Washington Times, June 30, 2025.
• Tom Pandolfi, “The Hidden Healthcare Cost of AI Overreach,” Now + Next, June 30, 2024.
• Adam Thierer, “The Blackburn-Cruz AI Regulatory Pause Compromise Offers a Path Forward,” R Street Analysis, June 30, 2025.
• Annette Meeks, “The U.S. can be an AI leader — if states stay out of the way,” Minneapolis State-Tribune, June 30, 2025.
• David Sacks, President Trump’s AI Czar, June 29, 2025 tweet: “What is the most realistic way for the U.S. to lower debt/GDP? Growth. What is the biggest driver of growth? Productivity. What is expected to drive productivity most? AI. Yet over 1,000 bills have been introduced in state legislatures to hobble AI. We need preemption in OBBB.” + May 30, 2025 tweet: “Agreed. A patchwork of 50 state regulatory regimes would be bad for innovation.” [Sacks was responding to a tweet from venture capitalist Bill Gurley, which argued: “Having ‘state by state’ AI rules would be horrible for startups and horrible for innovation. Don’t understand the argument for being against federal alignment.”]
• Hope Schumaker, “The power of the pause: the AI moratorium and Louisiana innovation,” The Center Square, June 29, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “The AI Regulatory Moratorium and the Proper Understanding of American Federalism,” Medium, June 28, 2025.
• Caden Rosenbaum, “What to Know about the AI Moratorium,” Libertas Institute, June 27, 2025.
• American Innovators Network, “A Federal Pause on State AI Regulation Is the Pro-Innovation Path Forward,” June 27, 2025.
• Edward Longe, “The $38 Billion Mistake: Why AI Regulation Could Crush Florida’s Economy,” James Madison Institute Policy Brief, June 2025.
• Gen. (Ret.) Keith B. Alexander and Jamil N. Jaffer, “To Beat China on AI, Let the Market Lead,” Barron’s, June 26, 2025.
• Americans for Tax Reform, “ATR Backs Senate Commerce’s A.I. Moratorium,” June 26, 2025. [+ Grover Norquist tweet.]
• Abundance Institute, “Fact Check: Addressing Misconceptions about the AI Pause,” June 25, 2025.
• Tweet on June 25th from Trump Sec. of Commerce Howard Lutnick: “President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill isn’t just vital for our economy, it is non-negotiable for our national security. By creating a single national standard for AI, the bill ends the chaos of 50 different state laws and makes sure American companies can develop cutting-edge tech for our military, infrastructure, and critical industries — without interference from anti-innovation politicians. This is required to stay ahead of our adversaries and keep America at the forefront of AI.” [+ a June 30th tweet endorsing the Blackburn-Cruz moratorium compromise]
• June 25th Tweets of general support from Marc Andreessen and Palmer Luckey.
• Joe Lonsdale, “Why Congress Should Protect AI Startups,” June 24, 2025.
• Matt Mittelsteadt, “The Safety Risks of the Coming AI Regulatory Patchwork,” Cato at Liberty, June 25, 2025.
• Andy Fowler, “The Need for a Moratorium on State AI Laws,” Real Clear Policy, June 25, 2025.
• Doug Kelly, “Why Congress Must Pass the AI Regulation Moratorium on States,” Newsweek, June 24, 2025.
• Morgan Stevens, “State of Confusion: How a Patchwork of AI Laws Hurts Small Businesses and U.S. Competitiveness,” ACT — The App Association, June 17, 2025.
• Gov. Susana Martinez, “To win the AI race, put a 10 year freeze on state-level red tape,” Washington Examiner, June 12, 2025.
• Jennifer Huddleston, “Preventing the Patchwork Promotes Innovation: Why a Moratorium on State AI Policy Makes Sense,” Cato at Liberty, June 12, 2025.
• Trevor Wagener, “AI Adoption Drives Cost-Effective Broadband Buildout,” CCIA Innovation Policy, June 11, 2025.
• Will Rinehart, “Two Cheers for the AI Moratorium!” Exformation, June 10, 2025.
• Yaël Ossowski, “A federal regulatory moratorium on state AI rules: 50 sets of AI regulations won’t help consumers,” Consumer Choice Center, June 10, 2025.
• Christopher Koopman & Neil Chilson, “State Regulation Should Not Be Allowed to Strangle Federal AI Progress,” National Review, June 6, 2025.
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “Coalition Letter to the Senate Supporting the Moratorium on AI Regulation Enforcement,” June 9, 2025; + “Congress Must Pass An AI Moratorium | U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” June 6, 2025; + “House Oversight Committee Letter In Reference to Federal AI,” June 5, 2025.
• Logan Kolas & Nate Karren, “Governors Break Ranks Over AI Regulation Patchwork,” Now + Next, June 4, 2024.
• Kevin Frazier & Adam Thierer, “Understanding the Proposed AI Moratorium: Answers to Key Questions,” R Street Institute, June 3, 2025
• Dan Castro, “Fragmented AI Laws Will Slow Federal IT Modernization in the US,” Tech Policy Press, May 30, 2025.
• Kristian Stout, “Federal Preemption and AI Regulation: A Law and Economics Case for Strategic Forbearance,” Washington Legal Foundation, WLF Legal Pulse, May 30, 2025.
• Kevin Frazier, “Why the Feds — Not the States — Should Take the Lead on Regulating AI,” Governing, May 28, 2025.
• Trevor Wagener, “A Federal Fiscal Case for Pre-Empting Discriminatory State AI Rules,” CCIA Innovation Policy, May 27, 2025.
• Kevin Frazier, “A 10-Year Pause on State AI Laws Is the Smart Move,” Reason, May 21, 2025.
• Gregory Ferenstein, “Congress attempts to standardize AI rules, but legal challenges remain,” Reason, May 21, 2025.
• Angela Luna, “Regulatory Approaches to AI: Balancing Innovation and Oversight,” AFF Insight, May 21, 2025.
• Vance Ginn, “America Needs a Moratorium on State AI Laws,” Let People Prosper, May 21, 2025.
• Brian Chau, “The AI Legislation Moratorium is a Test for the Startup Coalition,” Pirate Wires, May 16, 2025.
• Hodan Omaar, “A Moratorium on State AI Regulation Would Boost U.S. AI Competitiveness,” ITIF Press Release, May 13, 2025.
• Kevin Frazier & Adam Thierer, “1,000 AI Bills: Time for Congress to Get Serious About Preemption,” Lawfare, May 9, 2025.
• Neil Chilson Twitter thread 1; thread 2; thread 3

OPPOSITION:

• Bahar Gholipour, “How the striking of a GOP regulatory ban will affect the global artificial intelligence race,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 3, 2025.
• Sarah Huckabee Sanders, “Yes, I support Trump’s big, beautiful bill. Just not this one part.” Washington Post, June 26, 2025
• Kristin O’Donoghue, “A Patchwork of State AI Regulation Is Bad. A Moratorium Is Worse.” AI Frontiers, June 25, 2025.
• National Conference of State Legislature, “NCSL Urges Senate to Oppose AI Moratorium,” June 24, 2025.
• Michael Waldman, “The Budget Bill’s Troubling AI Provision,” Brennan Center for Justice, June 17, 2025.
• Michael Toscano and Jared Hayden, “Republicans Must Say No to the AI Regulation Moratorium,” Newsweek, June 17, 2025.
• Jason Pye, “Let the States Teach the Federal Government How to Regulate AI,” Real Clear Markets, June 10, 2025.
• Iskandar Haykel, “Federal Preemption of AI Regulation: What State Legislation Is at Risk?” Americans for Responsible Innovation, June 6, 2025.
• Dario Amodei, “Anthropic C.E.O.: Don’t Let A.I. Companies off the Hook,” New York Times, June 5, 2025.
• Kara Williams & Ben Winters, “Debunking Myths About AI Laws and the Proposed Moratorium on State AI Regulation,” Tech Policy Press, May 30, 2025.
• David S. Rubenstein, “AI Governance Needs Federalism, Not a Federally Imposed Moratorium,” Just Security, May 29, 2025.
• David Brody, “The Big Beautiful Bill Could Decimate Legal Accountability for Tech and Anything Tech Touches,” TechPolicyPress, May 27 2025.
• Ellen P. Godman, “House Moratorium on State AI Laws is Over-Broad, Unproductive, and Likely Unconstitutional,” TechPolicyPress, May 27, 2025.
• Gideon Lichfield, “Why Both Sides Are Right — and Wrong — About A Moratorium on State AI Laws,” Tech Policy Press, May 23, 2025.
• Various authors, “Expert Perspectives on 10-Year Moratorium on Enforcement of US State AI Laws,” May 23. 2025.
• Gary Marcus & state lawmakers — “When it Comes to AI Policy Congress Shouldn’t Cut States off at the Knees,”
• NCSL, “NCSL Urges Congress to Oppose AI Moratorium on States”
• AG letter in opposition to AI moratorium
• Civil society coalition opposition letter (CDT-led)
• Sam Hammond, “The ‘big, beautiful bill’ to ban state AI laws,” Politico Tech podcast, May 22, 2025.
• Liana Keesing & Isabel Sunderland, “Critical Questions for the House Hearing Examining a Federal Restriction on State AI Regulation,” Tech Policy Press, May 20, 2025.
• Chris MacKenzie, “Reconciliation Provision Would Preempt State AI Laws,” Americans for Responsible Innovation, May 20, 2025.
• Scott Brennen and Zeve Sanderson, “A dangerous plan to ‘win’ the AI race is circulating,” Washington Post, May 14, 2025.

ADAM THIERER ARTICLES (on AI moratorium & state regulation more generally):

• Adam Thierer, “The AI Regulatory Moratorium and the Proper Understanding of American Federalism,” Medium, June 28, 2025.
• Kevin Frazier & Adam Thierer, “Understanding the Proposed AI Moratorium: Answers to Key Questions,” R Street Institute, June 3, 2025
• Adam Thierer, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives, Hearing on “AI Regulation and the Future of U.S. Leadership,” May 21, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “Comments of R Street Institute on a Learning Period Moratorium for AI Regulation in Response to Request for Information (RFI) Exploring a Data Privacy and Security Framework,” R Street Institute Regulatory Comments, Apr. 3, 2025.
• Kevin Frazier & Adam Thierer, “1,000 AI Bills: Time for Congress to Get Serious About Preemption,” Lawfare, May 9, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “Getting AI Policy Right Through a Learning Period Moratorium,” R Street Real Solutions, May 29, 2024.
• Adam Thierer, “Don’t let the states derail America’s AI revolution,” The Hill, March 23, 2025.
• Dean Ball, Greg Lukianoff & Adam Thierer, “How state AI regulations threaten innovation, free speech, and knowledge creation,” The Eternally Radical Idea, Apr. 3, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “More States Reject Fear-Based AI Regulation,” Governing, Mar. 27, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “Comments of the R Street Institute in Request for Information on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan,” March 15, 2025
• Adam Thierer, “R Street Testimony in Opposition to CT SB 2: ‘An Act Concerning Artificial Intelligence’,” Feb. 25, 2025.
• Adam Thierer, “California Rejects AI Regulatory Extremism,” R Street Analysis, Sept. 30, 2024.
• Adam Thierer, “Colorado Opens Door to an AI Patchwork as Congress Procrastinates,” R Street Analysis, May 20, 2024.