CONGRESS MOVES TO WIPE STATE AI LAWS OFF THE MAP FOR THREE YEARS A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers dropped a 269-page discussion draft Thursday that would freeze every state in the country from enforcing its own artificial intelligence laws for three years, handing control of the sector to Washington at a moment when the federal government has no working regulatory framework in place. Representatives Jay Obernolte of California and Lori Trahan of Massachusetts are calling the measure the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act. It would preempt state laws specifically targeting the development of AI models, a provision that would immediately neutralize California’s hard-won consumer protections, including portions of AB 2013 and SB 942. Colorado’s incoming AI accountability law, set to take effect in January 2027, would also be blocked. The bill would formally establish the Center for AI Standards and Innovation and appropriate $100 million per year from 2027 to 2029 for voluntary standards work. Frontier labs would face new transparency obligations and be required to open their models to federal review. Advocates at Public Citizen are calling it a gift to the industry. Industry groups are calling it long overdue. The preemption does not apply to laws governing AI deployment or use, only development. That distinction will be litigated the moment the bill passes, if it passes. A formal introduction is weeks away. Keywords: Great American AI Act, AI regulation Congress, state AI laws preemption, federal AI bill