Attorney General Jeff Jackson Opposes Move to Prohibit States from Enforcing AI Laws
RALEIGH – Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 39 Republican and Democrat attorneys general opposing an attempt by Congress to prevent states from implementing and enforcing laws regulating artificial intelligence. This would eliminate important consumer protections from harmful uses of AI already in place, putting North Carolinians at risk.
“We’re going to see AI everywhere in the next few years, and bad actors are going to intentionally misuse it to commit crimes and scam people,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “Our General Assembly has been taking the threat of AI seriously and has passed laws to keep our children safe from AI abuse. The federal government shouldn’t stop states from working to keep people safe.”
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee added an amendment to the federal budget reconciliation bill that would impose a 10-year moratorium on states from enforcing any law or regulation targeted at AI. In January, Attorney General Jackson sued six major corporate landlords for allegedly using RealPage’s AI software and algorithms to unlawfully raise North Carolinians’ rents. A settlement was reached with one of the landlords in April.
The amendment could also prevent North Carolina prosecutors from enforcing North Carolina’s recently-passed law that updated sex crime laws to include AI generated material, created new felony offenses for sexual extortion and aggravated sexual extortion, and clarified that North Carolina’s revenge porn statute would include AI altered images that attempt to depict an identifiable person. Many other states have also passed laws regulating certain areas of AI, including AI-generated content, misleading AI deep fakes, protecting renters from AI rent-setting algorithms, and preventing spam texts and phone calls.
The amendment proposed by the U.S. House would prohibit similar laws from being passed and enforced in the future, while introducing no new federal protections from the risks of AI.
Attorney General Jackson was joined in this bipartisan letter to Congress by the Attorneys General of American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
A copy of the letter is available here.
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