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Sen. Blackburn Releases Discussion Draft of Bill to Set Federal ‘Framework’ for AI Policy

By  |  March 19, 2026

Days after reporting surfaced that the White House and Republican leadership on Capitol Hill were working behind the scenes to craft comprehensive federal AI legislation that would preempt state laws, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a discussion draft of a bill to create a national AI regulatory framework. Although similar in many respects to the White House draft, Blackburn’s bill would notably preserve the authority of state attorneys general to enforce child protection measures and to hold AI system developers liable for harms caused by the AI system under defective design or “unreasonably” dangerous or defective product claims.

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    Blackburn’s 300-page draft also includes language stipulating that the unauthorized use of copyrighted works by AI developers to train their models does not constitute fair use under the Copyright Act. That issue is currently being litigated in dozens of cases around the country, in which AI companies, including many aligned with the Trump administration, have raised fair use as a defense against copyright infringement claims brought by artists and rightsholders.

    Blackburn, who previously represented Nashville in the House and is now running for governor of Tennessee, has been a strong supporter of artists’ rights in debates around AI.

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    Despite her draft’s differences from the purported White House version, Blackburn is at pains to avoid openly clashing with the administration, going so far as to call her bill the Trump America AI Act.

    Read more: Proposal Calls for Treating Digital Platform Design Standards Like Physical Infrastructure

    “Instead of pushing AI amnesty, President Trump rightfully called on Congress to pass federal standards and protections to solve the patchwork of state laws that has hindered AI innovation,” she said in a statement. “Now, Congress must answer his call to establish one federal rulebook for AI to protect children, creators, conservatives, and communities across the country and ensure America triumphs over foreign adversaries in the global race for AI dominance.”

    In a bid for bipartisan support, Blackburn’s draft incorporates a number of ideas that have been floated by senators from both parties:

    • It would require publicly traded companies and federal agencies to report quarterly on AI-related hiring and layoffs, incorporating legislation introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) last year.
    • It would allow users or the government to bring lawsuits for property damage, mental anguish, death, illness and financial injury caused by AI models, drawing on a bill originally introduced by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
    • It would incorporate legislation sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) requiring the development of content-provenance standards to help detect AI-generated content.
    • It borrows text taken from a bill introduced by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), giving individuals the right to license their voice and visual likeness for digital replicas and prohibiting transmitting such replicas without consent.

    Like the White House draft, Blackburn’s version would require AI systems to undergo third-party audits prevent discrimination based on political affiliation—a measure meant to address concerns over alleged anti-conservative bias by tech companies. It would further codify Trump’s December executive order barring “woke” AI from the federal government by limiting agency heads to acquiring only those large language models deemed to be “truthful” in responding to user prompts and so not manipulate responses in favor of ideological “biases.”

    Blackburn’s draft would also sunset Section 230 of the Communications Act, which shields platforms from liability for content posted by users, but has long been a target of conservative critics who claim it allows platforms to “censor” conservative speech.