Washington (June 30, 2025) - As opposition to the new Blackburn-Cruz five-year AI moratorium “compromise” continues to grow, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation filed an amendment to strip the entire provision from the Republican budget reconciliation bill.

“The Blackburn-Cruz so-called compromise is a wolf in sheep's clothing,” said Senator Edward J. Markey. “Despite Republican efforts to hide the true impact of the AI moratorium, the language still allows the Trump administration to use federal broadband funding as a weapon against the states and still prevents states from protecting children online from Big Tech's predatory behavior. Republicans are selling out our kids and local communities — all to line the pockets of Big Tech billionaires. I am proud to partner with Ranking Member Cantwell on an amendment to strip this dangerous language.”

“The Blackburn-Cruz amendment does nothing to protect kids or consumers,” Sen. Cantwell said earlier today. “It’s just another giveaway to tech companies. This provision gives AI and social media a brand-new shield against litigation and state regulation. This is Section 230 on steroids. And when Howard Lutnick has the authority to force states to take this deal or lose all of their BEAD funding, consumers will find out just how catastrophic this deal is.”

While the “compromise” language adds child safety and other “generally applicable laws” to its list of purported exemptions, the standard is so vague that Big Tech companies would challenge nearly every consumer protection, kids online safety or privacy protection law in court as “overly burdensome.” It would also impact the thousands of pending lawsuits against social media companies’ harmful algorithms.

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