Big Tech's 10-Year AI Free Pass: $42.5B Hostage Crisis

🚨 States Must Choose: Rural Internet or Consumer Protection

Buried in the "Big Beautiful Bill" is a disastrous provision that would ban states and local governments from regulating AI for 10 full years while Congress refuses to take action on AI oversight.

The ultimatum is simple: If states want their $42.5 billion in broadband money, they must agree to let Big Tech deploy AI without any consumer safeguards for an entire decade.

The opposition: 40 bipartisan state attorneys general oppose this provision because it forces states to abandon their constitutional duty to protect citizens in exchange for federal infrastructure funding.

Click Any State to See Impact

Potentially threatened protections (list compiled by Public Citizen)

Under $200M at Stake

$200M - $500M at Stake

Over $500M at Stake

⚖️ Bipartisan Opposition

40 state attorneys general from both parties—including deep-red states like Louisiana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Oklahoma—oppose this federal overreach that strips states' rights.

🎯 Why This Matters

Big Tech gets 10 years to deploy AI without oversight
No federal AI regulations exist to fill the gap
States blocked from protecting workers and children
Monopolies like Google, Meta get blank check
Rural communities lose broadband if states resist

🚨 Senate Vote This Week

Time is running out! The Senate could vote on this as early as this weekend in a marathon "vote-a-rama." Senators from both parties have already promised to offer amendments to strip this out.

Your voice matters: Call your senators NOW and demand they vote to remove the AI moratorium from the reconciliation bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do you claim this impacts all $42.5 billion? I thought the reconciliation bill only adds $500 million to BEAD?

The legal trap is more devastating than it appears. While the bill appropriates only $500 million in new BEAD funding, the moratorium applies to any state that accepts any amount of BEAD funding on or after the bill's enactment.

Here's how the entire $42.5 billion becomes hostage:

All $42.45 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Act has been "obligated" to states but not yet fully spent
If a state accepts even $1 of the new $500 million, the moratorium kicks in for that state
The Department of Commerce can then "deobligate" (take back) previously allocated funds for violations
Once funds are deobligated, states must comply with the moratorium to get any future BEAD money back

It's a legal mousetrap: states that initially refuse the $500 million can still lose billions in previously allocated funding through administrative action, then be forced to comply with the AI moratorium to restore those funds.

Q: Has Congress ever done anything like this before? What makes this different?

No—not at this scale or for this duration. Congress has sometimes preempted state rules in mature industries like telecom or aviation, but this is unprecedented:

What makes this a historic overreach:

It covers every use of AI, in every sector, across all 50 states
It creates a regulatory vacuum before Congress has passed any federal AI rules
It lasts a full decade—longer than any technology-related preemption in U.S. history
It uses infrastructure funding as leverage to strip states' constitutional police powers

Previous preemptions replaced state rules with federal oversight. This eliminates oversight entirely while emerging AI technology poses unprecedented risks to workers, children, and democracy itself. It's not coordination—it's a complete regulatory freeze that benefits only Big Tech monopolies.

Stop Congress from Caving to Big Tech

$42 Billion Threatened from Potential State AI Regulation Ban