LINCOLN — As the federal “one big beautiful bill” continues to move through Congress, one provision related to AI that Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and 16 other Republican governors opposed has been removed, at least for now.

The ever-changing federal legislation, a key priority of President Donald Trump, passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22, 215-214, and the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, 51-50. The House version would prohibit states from regulating artificial intelligence for the next decade, raising concern it could entangle state laws against AI-generated child sexual abuse material or the nonconsensual use of someone’s likeness in intimate images. The Senate voted 99-1 to remove the provision related to AI.

However, as the priority legislation of President Donald Trump returns to the House, the AI components could return. U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has already introduced an amendment to revert the bill to the House version and “delete their dud.”

Nebraska lawmakers passed two laws in May related to AI that Pillen signed into law. They currently are set to go into effect in early September:

• Legislative Bill 172, from State Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering at Pillen’s request, prohibits AI-generated child pornography. Passed 46-3 as part of LB 383.
• LB 371, from State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, provides civil liability for sharing AI-generated or computer-generated intimate images without the depicted person’s consent. Passed 49-0.

Pillen has joined a push led by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders against the AI moratorium and said he was proud to defend “smart, commonsense protections.”

“AI holds great promise for innovation across our economy, but it also poses a grave threat to our kids if it is abused,” Pillen said in a Saturday post on X, formerly Twitter. “State leaders know best how to strike this balance, and Congress should respect that.”

Hardin, who joined Pillen for a bill signing of the “commonsense” legislation May 30, said lawmakers could never have envisioned the world of AI decades ago when writing existing laws protecting children. Pillen said he knows “it turns all of our Nebraska stomachs because of the values of what we believe in,” that there are predators taking advantage of young people.

Said Hardin: “Thanks so much to [Attorney General Mike Hilgers] and his staff for helping us wade through these dangerous waters that, frankly, our federal government has been waiting for other leadership to happen.”

The Nebraska Examiner asked Hilgers and his office at that bill signing if the Nebraska laws would be impacted by the federal legislation. They were unsure at the time.

The governors argued that the technology is already “deeply entrenched in American industry and society” and will be used throughout society over the next decade, “for harm and good.”

“That Congress is burying a provision that will strip the right of any state to regulate this technology in any way – without a thoughtful public debate – is the antithesis of what our Founders envisioned,” the governors wrote.

The Republican officials said they support Trump’s bill and his “vision of American AI dominance,” but they said they couldn’t “support a provision that takes away states’ powers to protect our citizens.”

“Let states function as the laboratories of democracy they were intended to be and allow state leaders to protect our people,” the governors wrote.

Also joining the letter: Govs. Kay Ivey of Alabama, Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Brad Little of Idaho, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Jeff Landry of Louisiana, Mike Kehoe of Missouri, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Larry Rhoden of South Dakota, Bill Lee of Tennessee, Spencer Cox of Utah and Mark Gordon of Wyoming.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who led the amendment to remove the AI moratorium altogether, had briefly struck a deal to at least protect the AI laws related to online safety and protecting children that Nebraska and other states had enacted.

“I regret that we weren’t able to come to a compromise that would protect our governors, our state legislators, our attorney generals and, of course, House members who have expressed concern over this language,” she said in a floor speech.

Blackburn continued: “But what we know is this: This body has proven that they cannot legislate on emerging technology.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/02/nebraskas-pillen-among-17-republ...