A push to ban state regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) for 10 years is setting off a debate among Republicans, further complicating its path toward passage in President Trump’s tax and spending bill.

The AI provision has divided Republicans into two camps: one touting the party’s traditional support of states’ rights and another concerned with overbearing regulation.

As the Senate works out its changes to the larger tax and spending package, an increasing number of Republicans from both chambers are coming out against the AI provision, which calls for a 10-year moratorium on state laws regulating AI models and systems.

Republicans opposed to the measure differ in their opinions of AI and how beneficial it could be, but they share concerns with the federal government stifling the ability of states to set their rules for it.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the most vocal GOP critics of Trump’s broader bill, said Tuesday he is “not a real fan of the federal government” and is against the provision.

“I personally don’t think we should be setting a federal standard right now and prohibiting the states from doing what we should be doing in a federated republic. Let the states experiment,” Johnson told The Hill.

While Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has expressed concerns about the economic impact of AI, he said he is willing to introduce an amendment to eliminate the provision during the Senate’s marathon vote-a-rama if it is not taken out earlier.

“I’m only for AI if it’s good for the people,” he told reporters, citing AI’s potential disruptive impact on the job market. “I think we’ve got to come up with a way to put people first.”

Even some House Republicans who already voted to pass the bill in the lower chamber are speaking out against the........

© The Hill