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Trump Is Big Tech's Personal Lobbyist
During the debate over the GOP mega-bill, Big Tech firms led a radical attempt to shield themselves from oversight. They pitched a ten-year moratorium on state regulations on artificial intelligence, which would be implemented through a kind of blackmail: The only way for states to receive certain federal grants (initially for information technology upgrades but eventually tied to broadband funding) would be to agree to the moratorium. The goal was a hands-off environment for the AI rollout, benefiting the biggest companies in tech.
Once word got out about this upending of state sovereignty, lawmakers vociferously rejected it. The Senate took a vote on the provision, and it was opposed 99-1, a degree of unanimity you pretty much never see in today’s Congress. That was supposed to be that—until the Trump administration just went ahead and gave the industry their wish anyway.
Buried in the White House AI Action Plan released on Wednesday is a recommendation to “accelerate AI innovation” by requiring any federal agency with control of discretionary funding grants to “consider a state’s AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions and limit funding if the state’s AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award.” This is a recapitulation of the AI regulation moratorium, again using federal funding to force states into compliance with a laissez-faire regime for AI.
In addition, the action plan fast-tracks AI data center permitting, encourages replacing federal government functions with AI (which is happening rapidly), and weakens oversight for AI procurement. Public Citizen co-president Rob Weissman called it “an AI plan written by Big Tech.
Once word got out about this upending of state sovereignty, lawmakers vociferously rejected it. The Senate took a vote on the provision, and it was opposed 99-1, a degree of unanimity you pretty much never see in today’s Congress. That was supposed to be that—until the Trump administration just went ahead and gave the industry their wish anyway.
Buried in the White House AI Action Plan released on Wednesday is a recommendation to “accelerate AI innovation” by requiring any federal agency with control of discretionary funding grants to “consider a state’s AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions and limit funding if the state’s AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award.” This is a recapitulation of the AI regulation moratorium, again using federal funding to force states into compliance with a laissez-faire regime for AI.
In addition, the action plan fast-tracks AI data center permitting, encourages replacing federal government functions with AI (which is happening rapidly), and weakens oversight for AI procurement. Public Citizen co-president Rob Weissman called it “an AI plan written by Big Tech.
https://prospect.org/economy/2025-07-24-trump-big-techs-personal-lobbyist/]