Latest news with #EnsuringLikenessVoiceandImageSecurity
Engadget
10 hours ago
- Business
- Engadget
Senate votes against curbing state-level AI regulation
Yesterday, the senate was poised to restrict states' power to regulate AI. Now, the measure is dead in the water, with the Senate voting 99-1 to remove the provision. Are you also having a bit of whiplash? Here's what you need to know about the amendments rightful journey into the trash can of history. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had pushed for an amendment to Trump's tax bill that would ban states from regulating the AI industry for ten years — if the state took AI infrastructure funding included in the aforementioned bill. A version of the provision passed the House in May. On Sunday, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) agreed to a version which would reduce the moratorium to five years and include exceptions for regulations around child safety, deceptive acts and protection of a person's likeness, voice, name and more. The new provision also exempted Tennessee's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, enacted last year. The ELVIS Act was passed to prevent AI from using musician's likeness and voice without their consent. Yet, backlash against the amendment continued from Republican and Democrat leaders, Politico reports. My day's end Blackburn had found sense and withdrew her support. The senate voted early Tuesday morning to nix the amendment, with even Cruz backing its removal.
Engadget
a day ago
- Business
- Engadget
Ban on state AI laws set to pass, after exemption deals struck on musicians' rights and child safety
If there's one thing the AI industry needs it's more regulation. Yet, soon individual US states might not have much say in what AI companies can and can't do thanks to Trump pleasing senators. That's right, an AI-friendly amendment to the president's tax legislation is on the road to approval — despite concerns that its shoehorning is illegal. The would prevent states from legislating the AI industry for five years, Bloomberg reports. Only states that cooperate will be allowed to access some of the $500 million of funding for AI infrastructure and the like included included in the bill. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) cleared the way for it, agreeing to a deal on Sunday with Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that would exempt her home state's Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act. Signed in early 2024, the ELVIS Act is meant to protect musicians from allowing AI to use their likeness and voice without permission. As part of the new deal, Cruz reduced the ban from ten to five years — because five years of an unregulated AI industry surely won't cause any damage. A fresh draft of the amendment, obtained by Politico , also includes exemptions for "a law or regulation pertaining to unfair or deceptive acts or practices, child online safety, child sexual abuse material, rights of publicity, protection of a person's name, image, voice, or likeness and any necessary documentation for enforcement," as long as they don't place an "undue or disproportionate burden" on AI systems. An earlier version of the provision, that included the decade-long ban, passed the House in May. While Blackburn's decision will likely push it forward, Republican governors across the country have also voiced their disdain for the amendment. On Friday, 17 governors sent a letter asking for its removal (after sucking up about the rest of the tax bill, of course). They stated that it "threatens to undo all the work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence."
