Maryland Attorney General Brown has joined a coalition of 40 attorneys general in a bipartisan letter urging Congress to reject a proposed amendment that would prevent states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence regulations for the next 10 years.
Per the news release distributed on Friday, May 16: “Attorney General Brown today joined a coalition of 40 attorneys general in a bipartisan letter to Congress voicing opposition to a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee amendment to the budget reconciliation bill. The amendment imposes a 10-year prohibition on states from enforcing any state law or regulation addressing artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making systems.
“AI technology can create new jobs and opportunities for Maryland’s economy, but without proper guardrails, it can also undermine the integrity of our elections, threaten consumers’ privacy, and leave Marylanders vulnerable to convincing scams,” said Attorney General Brown. “I’m joining this bipartisan coalition of attorneys general because we must preserve our states’ abilities to protect our residents while this powerful technology develops, especially when federal safeguards don’t yet exist.”
AI promises to revolutionize America’s economy, spur achievement and innovation, and improve lives across the country. However, the rise of such technology presents real, immediate dangers ranging from explicit material and election interference to deception, exploitation, and harassment against consumers. In the absence of federal leadership, state legislatures and attorneys general have continued to be at the forefront of ensuring AI is not abused and that consumers are protected.
As the letter to Congress emphasizes, state laws and regulations “have been developed over years through careful consideration and extensive stakeholder input from consumers, industry, and advocates. And, in the years ahead, additional matters—many unforeseeable today given the rapidly evolving nature of this technology—are likely to arise.”
If enacted, the amendment would strip away essential state protections without replacing them with a viable federal regulatory framework and silence state leaders who are best positioned to respond. Any effort to prohibit states from enacting and enforcing laws aimed at regulating AI and protecting consumers will leave AI entirely unregulated at any level, exposing Americans to its known harms and evolving, real-world risks—ultimately leading to dangerous consequences for the American people.
In signing the bipartisan letter to Congress, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of Colorado, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Vermont, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‛i, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.”