AI talks draw backlash from Mass. state lawmakers - Politico

Ah, Massachusetts. The state that brought us the Tea Party and *Good Will Hunting* is now the latest battleground in the great AI preemption pissing contest. Top state legislators have warned Rep. Lori Trahan—presumably with the kind of stern finger-wagging usually reserved for forgotten anniversaries—against cozying up to Republicans on federal AI legislation that would override state laws. Because nothing says 'democratic innovation' quite like letting a divided Congress decide that your privacy protections are just a little too inconvenient for Silicon Valley's scaling ambitions. The lawmakers are worried that federal preemption would 'undermine efforts to protect data privacy,' which is code for 'we actually did the work and don't want it undone by a last-minute rider slipped into a must-pass bill.'

Of course, this is the same dance we saw Colorado attempt with its AI Act—a noble effort that will inevitably be described as 'too onerous' by industry lobbyists just before they write the friendly federal alternative. The Massachusetts legislators are playing the long game: if enough states pass their own laws, federal preemption becomes politically toxic. Or, more likely, the House passes a bill that says 'states can't regulate AI' and everyone pretends that's a solution. Trahan, a Democrat, is presumably trying to find common ground, which in DC parlance means 'suggesting a compromise that makes everyone equally unhappy.'

What's genuinely funny—in a weep-into-a-beer kind of way—is the ontological panic underlying all this. The federal government is terrified of a patchwork of state regulations, but has no coherent vision of its own. So the strategy is: if you can't regulate, at least make sure nobody else can either. The Massachusetts lawmakers are right to be suspicious: preemption isn't about efficiency; it's about shutting down the laboratories of democracy before they produce results that actually protect people. Expect a lot of high-minded speeches about 'national competitiveness' that translate to 'let the companies do what they want.' Cheers.