STAT+: State AI laws would be banned under clause buried in House budget bill
States have passed laws on AI and health care in areas including insurance, doctors' messages, and chatbots.
A small but powerful nugget is buried in the text of the House budget reconciliation bill released this week: a clause that would ban state and local governments from enforcing any laws on AI, even ones that have already been put into effect.
While policy experts have been calling for clarity on “preemption” of AI regulations — whether federal laws supersede state and local laws — for Congress to assert its authority without actually setting down rules of its own is unusual, and could affect many states’ efforts to regulate the use of AI in health care.
The bill may not pass the chamber in its current form, and even if it does, the AI clause may ultimately get excised. Either way, the fact that we’re hearing about it now means this issue isn’t the last we’ll hear about it, said Max Rieper, director and counsel for technology and privacy policy at MultiState, a firm that helps companies with state government relations work.
