WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Federation of America released the following statement in response to the inclusion of a ten year ban on AI regulation in the States in the latest budget reconciliation text, along with an allocation of $500 million for the federal government to spend on AI.

“AI is being used widely to make decisions about people’s lives without transparency, accountability, or recourse – it’s also facilitating chilling fraud, impersonation, and surveillance. A ten-year pause would lead to more discrimination, more deception, and less control – simply put, it’s siding with tech companies over the people they impact,” Ben Winters, CFA’s Director of AI and Privacy, said. “State legislators need the ability to innovate in protecting their constituents — it’s critical that members of the House reject any budget text with this nonsensical gift to the tech industry in it.”