Federal AI regulation is coming whether big tech likes it or not, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn declared Wednesday at the CNBC AI Summit. With states like California, Utah, and Texas already implementing their own AI safeguards for minors, Blackburn says federal preemption has become 'imperative' to address growing privacy and safety concerns that Congress has so far failed to tackle.
The regulatory dam is about to break on artificial intelligence, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn isn't waiting for Silicon Valley's permission. Speaking at the CNBC AI Summit in Nashville Wednesday, the Tennessee Republican made it clear that federal AI oversight is coming - big tech resistance be damned.
"The reason the states have stepped in, whether it's to protect consumers or protect children, is because the federal government has, to date, not been able to pass any federal preemptive legislation," Blackburn told the summit. "We have to have the states standing in the gap until such time that Congress will say no to the big tech platforms."
The urgency is real. Just this week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of AI safety bills requiring chatbot safeguards and age verification tools, though he vetoed some of the stricter conditions legislators wanted. Utah and Texas have already implemented similar AI protections for minors, with more states signaling they're ready to follow suit.
Blackburn's been fighting this battle since 2022, when she introduced the Kids Online Safety Act to establish guidelines protecting minors from harmful online content. The bipartisan bill sailed through the Senate with overwhelming support, but it's been stuck in House limbo - a delay Blackburn squarely blames on big tech lobbying efforts.
"We are hopeful the House is going to take it up and pass it," she said, though her tone suggested patience is wearing thin.
What started as social media concerns has exploded into the AI era. "Once an LLM scoops [your data and information], then they are using that to train that model," Blackburn explained, coining the term "virtual you" to describe the digital footprint AI companies are harvesting without explicit consent.
The timing couldn't be more pointed. Earlier this week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the company would "safely relax" most content restrictions, saying OpenAI isn't the "elected moral police of the world." That kind of hands-off approach is exactly what's driving parental panic, according to Blackburn.
"I have talked to so many people who are now saying kids are not going to get cell phones until they're 16," she revealed. "Many parents believe that is just like driving a car - they're not going to allow their kids to have that because we as a society have to put rules and laws in place that protect children and minors."
Blackburn is pushing multiple legislative fronts beyond the Kids Online Safety Act. She's working on an online consumer privacy protection bill that would let users "set those firewalls and protect the virtual you," plus legislation targeting how AI systems use someone's name, image, or likeness without consent.
The regulatory challenge is massive. With AI advancing at breakneck speed, Blackburn acknowledged lawmakers need to focus on "end-use utilizations and legislate that framework" rather than trying to regulate specific technologies that could be obsolete by the time laws pass.
But parents aren't waiting for Congress to catch up. Blackburn says she's hearing from families who've watched their children "can't un-experience or unsee something that they have been through with these chatbots or in the virtual world or the metaverse."
The state-by-state approach is creating exactly the kind of regulatory patchwork that typically forces federal action. California's new requirements for age verification in app stores will affect Apple and Google nationwide. Utah's mandate that social platforms verify user ages is already reshaping how tech companies think about identity verification.
This isn't just about child safety anymore - it's about who controls the most powerful technology ever created. As AI systems become more sophisticated and pervasive, the question isn't whether federal regulation will come, but whether it'll arrive before or after the technology reshapes society beyond recognition.
Blackburn's push for federal AI regulation reflects a broader shift in how lawmakers view big tech's self-governance. With states already filling the regulatory void and parents pulling back from unrestricted tech access for their children, the question isn't whether federal oversight will happen - it's whether Congress will lead or be dragged into action by constituent pressure and state-level precedents.
