Weekly Update: Week of June 2, 2025

Pushback against federal overreach & EU consultations. In the U.S., a bipartisan group of 260 lawmakers published a letter on June 3 opposing the House’s AI preemption plan, arguing it would leave consumers unprotected from emerging AI challenges. This coordinated pushback signaled to the Senate that states should retain power to tackle AI issues locally. (Indeed, the federal moratorium was soon dropped.) Across the Atlantic, the European Commission on June 6 launched a stakeholder consultation on how to implement the EU’s forthcoming AI Act rules for “high-risk AI systems”. This EU-wide consultation (open until mid-July) sought input from companies, academia and civil society on standards for risk assessments and compliance. The flurry of activity this week highlighted democratic processes in action – legislators and regulators inviting debate on how to govern AI, rather than rushing one-sided decisions.