Status on BBB (Big Beautiful Bill aka Build Back Better) Section 43201 on AI

Bottom line at this point: Sounds like Section 43201 has been removed from the Bill

Here is the brief history of what happened to the BBB:

1. California AI regulations safe after Senate strips moratorium from ‘big, beautiful bill’

Summary:
The U.S. Senate [had] voted not to interfere with state artificial intelligence regulations, defeating a 10-year moratorium on such laws that had earlier cleared the House and alarmed California officials.

The 99-1 vote to strip the moratorium from the president’s “big, beautiful” budget bill followed opposition from a handful of Republicans. Dissenting from GOP colleagues, they argued the measure would allow the proliferation of highly realistic, AI-enabled “deepfake” impersonation videos, endanger jobs and infringe on the rights of state governments.

The small rebellion was enough to seal the moratorium’s fate, given Republicans’ slim majority in the Senate and united opposition from Democrats ...

In California, the moratorium would have threatened 20 AI laws on the books and 30 more proposals that are before the Legislature. State officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta and the executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, came out against the measure ...

Prior to its defeat, the moratorium had already been watered down in the Senate, reduced in duration to five years and in scope to states that wanted access to $500 million in new federal funding for AI infrastructure and broadband deployment.


2. States can still pass AI regulations, a ‘big, beautiful bill’ win for child safety advocates

The Senate stripped a controversial provision from the bill — a move praised by those who say tech companies shouldn't be shielded from accountability.

Summary:
In a notable sign of bipartisan agreement, the Senate voted 99-1 on Tuesday to remove from the president’s massive policy agenda bill a provision banning states from regulating artificial intelligence for at least five years, broadly seen as a win for child safety and marginalized people online.

The moratorium, originally proposed for 10 years, had received significant pushback from parent advocates, tech policy think tanks and state legislators across the country because they felt it put corporate interests over the well-being of Americans.

“The Senate did the right thing today for kids, for families, and for our future,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of nonpartisan nonprofit Common Sense Media, in a statement. “This is a victory for everyone, but especially every child growing up in today’s AI-powered world and every parent who wants nothing more than to ensure their kids are safe” ...

The provision nixed in the Senate version of the bill was supported by the Trump administration, and heavily advocated for by venture capitalist firms Andreessen Horowitz and Open AI, the creator of ChatGPT. Proponents argued that the patchwork of state regulations stymies innovation.

While the Senate defeat was a resounding rebuke, the unchanged bill must return to the House for final approval.