Use AI Heavily on Regulations, Not Vice Versa
By Paul Steidler: AI regulation is getting a lot of attention in Washington these days, and deservedly so.
Congress has shown it can enact sensible AI regulation when needed. It should do more: hold the line against regulatory and AI development chaos that would ensue without a moratorium on state legislation. Also, Congress must unleash AI on the bevy of 200,000 pages of regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations to eliminate an antiquated chunk that does not make sense.
On May 19, President Trump signed the Take It Down Act which requires tech platforms to remove non-consensual intimate imagery (a.k.a. revenge porn) and AI-generated deepfakes within 48 hours. Introduced by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has principal jurisdiction over AI matters, the measure had near unanimous support in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
The big issue now under consideration is a moratorium on state-enacted AI regulation. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a 10-year ban in its reconciliation package, the Big Beautiful Bill, and the Senate is now reviewing the measure.
More than 1,000 state AI bills have been introduced since January 1, 2025. As AI, by its nature, is developed for use throughout the U.S. and worldwide, the regulations would impact AI developers and be especially onerous on mid-size and small AI developers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has warned, “Without a federal moratorium there will be a growing patchwork of state and local laws that will significantly limit AI development and deployment. Even states that forgo new regulations will see AI products and services in their state limited.”
Congress has shown it can act quickly when new laws are needed to close gaps. Also, AI is already governed by a host of criminal and civil statutes. For example, it is illegal to defraud someone using AI, just as it is using paper documents.
AI can also jump-start seminal regulatory reform, curtailing onerous and unnecessary regulations that are costly and serve no purpose.
As a first step, Congress should require that all regulations be in machine-readable format as quickly as possible. Major law firms are already widely adopting this practice.
Through AI machine reading, computers would read and rapidly discern information regulations that are obsolete, duplicative, and even clearly in conflict with one another. Like the Take it Down Act, this is a common-sense, win-win measure that should have broad and deep support. It should become a top Congressional priority by the fall.