(BOSTON 5/30/2025) — This week, four Senators and nine Representatives seated on the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity sent a letter to the Commonwealth’s congressional delegation urging strong opposition to a proposed 10-year moratorium on state-level regulation of artificial intelligence technologies, contained within the multitrillion dollar so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ recently passed by US House Republicans. The policy, slipped into the 1,116-page reconciliation package, prohibits states from enforcing “any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems” for 10 years after the bill’s passage.
The letter, an effort led by Committee co-chairs Senator Michael Moore and Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, warns that without the ability to enforce state AI regulations, Massachusetts residents would effectively become "test subjects" for unregulated AI systems. The legislators expressed particular concern that the broad nature of the moratorium could prevent Massachusetts from enforcing existing regulations, and from advancing legislation protecting residents from the emerging issue of election-related deepfakes.
“The development of artificial intelligence has been moving at a breakneck pace over the last few years, upending our understanding of the future of work, education, and entertainment. The federal government, working on behalf of Big Tech to ban any regulation of this new technology, is stripping us of one of the most basic functions of government: the ability to protect everyday people from faceless mega-corporations,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “While AI holds the potential to revolutionize our world, that paradigm shift goes both ways – widespread job losses, the spread of disinformation, and the jeopardization of our most sensitive data are real risks that we must consider and craft laws to protect against. The reality is, we don’t know what AI is going to be able to do in 10 months, let alone 10 years. Slipping a decade-long AI regulation enforcement moratorium into a 1,000+ page bill is the antithesis of good governance.”
“The US House’s inclusion of this proposed moratorium prioritizes the billionaire tech giants’ expansion of artificial intelligence over the safety and wellbeing of constituents. In a world where AI is already being weaponized, a ten year moratorium like this one invites increased exploitation of already vulnerable communities,” said Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield). “Harnessing the power of AI for positive growth necessitates remaining vigilant about its rapidly evolving potential to be used for harm and responding accordingly at the same pace. This moratorium would prevent any attempt to address long standing issues of data privacy and safety issues as they arise, no matter how limited, urgent, or necessary. Stripping states of their right to regulate AI and data privacy would leave us powerless to act. If adopted, it is inevitable that harm will be done to real people at the hands of bad actors and for the benefit of large, unaccountable tech companies.”
While President Trump recently signed into law the Take It Down Act, a bill criminalizing the sharing of AI-generated deepfake revenge porn, there are currently no comprehensive regulations or legislation on the development or use of artificial intelligence at the federal level in the United States. In the regulatory void this inaction has created, states have stepped in to put up guardrails around this emerging technology. The Massachusetts Legislature is currently considering bills that regulate the use of AI in health insurance coverage decision making, in evaluating employee performance, in the spreading of election disinformation, in the creation of AI child sexual abuse material, and more. Further, state governments have been acting faster to protect residents than federal government has – Massachusetts enacted a bill similar to the Take It Down Act almost a year before the US Government did.
“This is pre-emption at its worst,” the letter states, highlighting that the proposed moratorium would allow a dangerous regulatory environment given the current lack of federal data privacy and AI regulations. The letter also warns about weakened consumer protections at the federal level with the “broad defanging of federal enforcement agencies,” including the Federal Trade Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The letter, addressed to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, as well as Representatives Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Stephen Lynch, Bill Keating, Katherine Clark, Seth Moulton, Lori Trahan, Ayanna Pressley, and Jake Auchincloss, calls on the delegation to "take all measures possible" to oppose the moratorium and ensure the Commonwealth can protect its residents.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the 10-year AI regulation moratorium, was passed by the US House of Representatives just before 7am on Thursday, May 22nd, after a marathon all-night session. The final vote was 215-214, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition. The bill now moves to the US Senate for further consideration.
Signatories of the letter include Senators Michael O. Moore, Pavel M. Payano, Barry R. Finegold, and Paul W. Mark and Representatives Tricia Farley-Bouvier, James K. Hawkins, Joan Meschino, Steve Owens, Steven J. Ouellette, Orlando Ramos, Tommy Vitolo, Thomas W. Moakley, and Christopher R. Flanagan. The full letter can be found online here.
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