Lawmakers have dismissed a proposal to block state AI regulations from being included in an annual defense appropriations bill. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Republican leaders will seek other avenues for the measure, a move backed by former President Trump. The effort follows earlier attempts to insert a ten‑year moratorium on state AI laws into a tax and spending bill, which also failed. Silicon Valley supports a federal preemption to avoid a patchwork of state rules, while critics argue that state measures focus on safety and consumer protections and that a ban would hand oversight to large tech firms without federal safeguards. Read more →