Big Tech's Last-Ditch Push Bundles KOSA Into AI
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- Big Tech lobbyists are pushing for federal AI preemption that would override state-by-state rules, fearing a hostile Congress if Democrats take a chamber after midterms.
- The White House proposed bundling Sen. Marsha Blackburn's Kids Online Safety Act with AI preemption, but did not inform House Republicans (who passed their own KOSA) or Senate Democrats like KOSA co-author Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
- Mike Davis, Trump-allied lawyer and founder of the Article III Project, is pushing his "Four Cs" framework — children, conservatives, creators, and communities — as a condition for supporting any preemption bill, and told The Verge there is "no chance in hell" preemption passes without all four.
- The Senate KOSA passed 91-3 in 2024 and would impose a "duty of care" on tech and AI companies, while the House version led by Majority Leader Steve Scalise diluted that provision last November.
- The legislative calendar through midterms is already consumed by FISA renewal, an immigration package, increased defense spending, a crypto market structure bill, the SAVE America election bill, and Medicaid, leaving little room for the combined bill.
- Insiders — a Republican tech lobbyist, an AI policy advocate, and former Nvidia government relations head Austin Carson — expressed deep skepticism the KOSA-preemption marriage can pass before the five-week recess and election season.
Why it matters: Big Tech faces a brutal trade-off: accept a 'duty of care' obligation for minors baked into AI preemption, or risk losing federal preemption entirely if Democrats take Congress and refuse to negotiate afterward. With a packed calendar and fewer than two months before a five-week recess, lobbyists see virtually no path to passage before midterms.
