State A.I. regulation bills stalled after Trump funding threat

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana lawmakers worked this past legislative session on bills to regulate artificial intelligence, but an executive order from President Trump threatening to pull broadband funding from states that “excessively” regulate A.I. led to some of those bills being shelved.

Now, as a new round of federal funding was approved for broadband in Louisiana, it draws into question the state’s ability to regulate this technology on its own.

Peter Robbins Brown, a former lobbyist with Louisiana Progress, a policy group focused on people with low income, worked with Republicans and Democrats on AI bills this session. He now works with labor unions for the AFL-CIO.

“You don’t see oil and gas executives out in the public warning about the climate and environmental impacts of their products. We see AI executives out in the public warning about essentially the same thing with their products; that is scary,” Brown said.

Brown said the bills he was pushing were driven by common sense while preserving the industry’s ability to innovate.

Executive order threatens funding

President Trump’s executive order threatens to pull funding for broadband internet expansion for any state that “excessively” regulates A.I.

“We had a bill around making sure you don’t have a healthcare claim denied based purely on an AI recommendation that there had to be a human medical professional that reviewed the claim before it gets denied—that bill was already moving and gaining momentum and that threat came down and we had to park the bill,” Brown said.

Rep. Mike Bayham’s House Bill 639 would have banned the use of A.I. for robocalls. The governor’s office requested a change to the bill.

“We’d like to have some compromise in it so it’s not as far-reaching, and their suggested change was about using AI to impersonate a public figure,” Bayham said.

Bayham said the situation reflects politics as usual, even with a new technology, and said it is not the first time a White House has applied pressure in this way.

“This is what we want, and if you don’t agree with this, we are going to cut funding here or not support you there,” he said, describing past administrations. “I appreciate the governor and his staff for willing to work with us to get something through instead of a blanket ‘no’ on anything AI,” Bayham said.

Louisiana approved for broadband grants

This week, Louisiana was the first state approved for federal grants to install broadband internet in rural areas of East Baton Rouge Parish.

Gov. Jeff Landry was asked whether the president’s threat impacted his decision on the A.I. bills.

“No no no, not at all again. When the president speaks, you certainly want to take that under consideration. We made our case and put our best foot forward and are here today breaking ground,” Landry said.

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