RALEIGH – Friday – Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 39 other attorneys general from both Republican and Democratic states in opposing a congressional proposal that would prevent states from enforcing laws regulating artificial intelligence. The group argues the move would remove critical consumer protections against harmful uses of AI already in place, potentially putting North Carolinians at risk.
“We’re going to see AI everywhere in the next few years, and bad actors are going to intentionally misuse it to commit crimes and scam people,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “Our General Assembly has been taking the threat of AI seriously and has passed laws to keep our children safe from AI abuse. The federal government shouldn’t stop states from working to keep people safe.”
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee recently added an amendment to a federal budget reconciliation bill that would enact a 10-year moratorium on state enforcement of laws or regulations specifically targeting AI.
In January, Attorney General Jackson filed a lawsuit against six major corporate landlords, alleging they used RealPage’s AI software and algorithms to unlawfully increase rental prices in North Carolina. One of the companies reached a settlement in April.
The proposed amendment could also impact enforcement of a newly-passed North Carolina law that updates sex crime statutes to address AI-generated material. The law created new felony offenses for sexual extortion and aggravated sexual extortion, and clarified that the state’s revenge porn law includes AI-altered images that depict identifiable individuals.
Other states have enacted laws targeting specific AI-related risks, including deepfake content, AI-driven rent-setting tools, and unsolicited spam communications. Critics of the amendment argue that it would block future state-level laws on these issues without introducing new federal safeguards.
The bipartisan letter to Congress was signed by the attorneys general of American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
