Children Online Safety, AI Bills Senate Markup Pushed to August - Bloomberg Law News

Ah, the US Senate has once again demonstrated its legendary ability to move at the speed of dial-up internet. Ted Cruz, the committee chair who seems to treat urgency as a suggestion, has pushed the markup on children's online safety and AI legislation to the week of August 3. Because if there's one thing that says 'we take technological risks seriously,' it's scheduling a markup during the holiday season when half the staff is at the beach. The goal: year-end approval. The reality: watch this space.

The pairing of the two issues is almost comical. Kids online are about as safe as they were when the internet was invented, and AI is advancing so fast that even its creators are sometimes left baffled. But no, let's bundle them together and give everyone a month to dither. The bills have been kicked around for years, and this delay just hands more leverage to the tech companies that will lobby to neuter any actual regulation. Cruz's confident 'aiming for year-end' sounds like a man who hasn't checked the calendar recently – or the news.

So as we approach August, we can expect the markup to produce some modest amendments, some bipartisan applause, and a bill that will be dead on arrival next session. The kids will continue to be exploited by algorithmically optimised garbage, and AI will continue to develop with approximately the same oversight as a toddler with matches. Lovely.