Trump's plan to ban US states from AI regulation will 'hold us back', says Microsoft science chief

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Sun 22 Jun 2025 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Sun 22 Jun 2025 06.01 EDT


Microsoft’s chief scientist has warned that Donald Trump’s proposed ban on state-level guardrails on artificial intelligence will slow the development of the frontier technology rather than accelerate it. Dr Eric Horvitz, a former technology adviser to Joe Biden, said bans on regulation will “hold us back” and “could be at odds with making good progress on not just advancing the science, but in translating it into practice”.

The Trump administration has proposed a 10-year ban on US states creating “any law or regulation limiting, restricting, or otherwise regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems”.

It is driven in part by White House fears China could otherwise win the race to human-level AI, but also pressure from tech investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, an early investor in Facebook, which argues consumer uses should be regulated rather than research efforts. Its co-founder, the Trump donor Marc Andreessen, said earlier this month that the US was in a two horse race for AI supremacy with China. The US vice-president, JD Vance, recently said: “If we take a pause, does [China] not take a pause? Then we find ourselves … enslaved to [China]-mediated AI.”

Horvitz said he was already concerned about “AI being leveraged for misinformation and inappropriate persuasion” and for its use “for malevolent activities, for example, in the biology biological hazard space”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/22/trump-ban-us-states-ai-regulation-microsoft-eric-horvitz

[Karasu]

1. Is this batshit insane provision still in the fucking bill, or did the parliamentarian take it out?

I NEED to fucking know.

[hueymahl]

3. It is still in there

Saw a post today in LBN that the parliamentarian ruled it could stay.

[Karasu]

4. What. The. Fuck.

On what grounds? What does it have to do with the budget?!

[hueymahl]

6. I don't really know, but here is the link

https://democraticunderground.com/10143483593

[BumRushDaShow]

7. There is a chance that it gets stripped

via an amendment once they start voting on what is left of this bill. The hardcore "states rights" MAGats don't want to be limited.

E.g., you already have states passing laws regarding AI "deep fakes" that create child porn or that were designed to damage the reputations of people.

If they actually took the time and did some thoughtful discussions (ha ha) in hearings (and I expect there are already draft bills out there), then they could come up with some "guardrail" type legislation that can address some of the problems that states have encountered.

[hueymahl]

2. That quote has no published reasoning associated with it

And it does not make logical sense. If the goal is to keep up with China, then companies like Microsoft having to comply with up to 50 different laws is not consistent with efficiency and competitiveness.

I have a feeling that quote was taken out of context given its logical inconsistencies. Or I am missing something big. But I am not. This is an area I follow very closely, both personally and professionally.

[reACTIONary]

9. I can't exactly figure it out either, but.....

... think of the example of crypto currency. The whole point of crypto is to evade government financial regulation, standards and oversight. That is fundamentally why it was created. Yet that is exactly what the crypto bros are asking for.

Why? One reason may be as a means of legitimizing the whole enterprise. Another might be the chance for regulatory capture.

I don't know, but those two factors might be in play.

[kimbutgar]

5. I'm a big science fiction buff and remember as a young kid watching 2001 space odyssey

And I remember Hal who was AI who took over. I’ve seen several Sci Fi movies on AI taking over and it scared me then and now. AI needs regulation!

[Linda ladeewolf]

8. I suppose states could just outlaw AI altogether.

Taken literally, that’s not regulation.