We Must Continue the Fight for Consent, Credit, and Compensation in AI

August 1, 2025

Ben Kessler  -  Ben Kessler, AFM Director of Government Affairs

At approximately 4:30 a.m. on July 1, the Senate voted 99-1 to defeat the proposed moratorium on states regulating artificial intelligence (AI). It was an overwhelming defeat for the measure previously included in the House-passed budget reconciliation package.

How exactly we got there was anything but straightforward. The ban had backing among Congressional Republicans and influential voices within the White House, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, White House AI Czar David Sacks, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) among them. An unusual group of allies, including the American Federation of Musicians, came together in opposition. This group included the Federalist Society, at least 17 Republican governors, consumer rights organizations, child safety advocates, the entertainment industry, and a broad swath of organized labor.

Despite the Senate’s resounding rejection, we cannot let down our guard. On July 23, the White House unveiled its long-awaited report on AI titled, “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan.” One need barely read past the introduction to find the discarded remnants of the state regulation ban.

The “Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulation” section that could hinder states’ ability to enact AI safeguards includes:

First, “the Federal government should not allow AI-related Federal funding to be directed toward states with burdensome AI regulations that waste these funds, but should also not interfere with states’ rights to pass prudent laws that are not unduly restrictive to innovation.” The mention of “states’ rights” is favorable to our cause. It reads, however, more cursory than thoughtful or sincere. It is the breadth of “burdensome AI regulations” without definition that is particularly concerning.

And second, the section includes “Led by OMB [Office of Management and Budget], work with Federal agencies that have AI-related discretionary funding programs to ensure, consistent with applicable law, that they 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, in short, a repackaged state AI ban.

By the time the Senate took up the proposal, it was not simply a blanket moratorium. Instead, to clear a significant procedural hurdle, Senator Cruz made broadband funding dependent on a state not regulating AI. Instead of simply focusing on federal support for internet access, the White House has gone even further.

Artists, creators, musicians, or copyright owners are nowhere in this report. There is no mention of what this administration is doing to combat the rampant theft of your work from nefarious AI developers. There are no endorsements of policy proposals to rein in bad actors. And then, from the White House, President Trump suggests that intellectual property theft is necessary in order to compete on the global stage, saying, “You can’t be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you’ve read or studied, you’re supposed to pay for … China’s not doing it.”

When the President of the United States is taking intellectual property enforcement cues from China, we know we must work together and have our voice heard throughout government.

The AFM is advocating for legislation to get us closer to that goal. Proposals such as the bipartisan Transparency and Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence Networks (TRAIN) Act will give rights holders access to the legal system to determine whether their work is being used in generative AI. This bill would create transparency where it is needed most.

I join President Gagliardi in thanking those who wrote and called their members of Congress to oppose the AI regulation ban. Your efforts made a difference. We will continue to call on you when the time is right. We will need you to let Congress know that credit and compensation are essential in machine learning.

We must not stop fighting until consent, credit, and compensation is the reality for all musicians.

---