Earlier this month, the U.S Senate voted overwhelmingly to strike an amendment in the Big Beautiful Bill that would have banned states from imposing regulations on AI, according to the New York Times. In a statement, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, said the Senate made the right decision to allow states to continue to regulate AI.
“States are uniquely situated to regulate artificial intelligence, protect consumers, investigate and prosecute criminals who promote child sexual abuse material, and push back against Big Tech,” Griffin said.
In an interview with Arkansas PBS, Griffin said states must be cautious not to overregulate AI because that could stifle innovation.
During this year’s legislative session, Gov. Sarah Sanders, a Republican, signed into law Act 927, which seeks to create property protections for image and likeness used in AI, according to the governor’s office. Act 977 was also signed into law, which outlaws child sexual abuse materials generated by AI.
Prior to the Senate’s decision, both Sanders and Griffin publicly called for Congress to reject the Big Beautiful Bill’s provision that would have banned states from regulating AI for 10 years. Griffin signed a letter, which was supported by 40 state attorney generals, and Sanders wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post.
