Microsoft’s AI Chief Criticizes Trump’s Proposed AI Regulation Ban

Microsoft’s chief scientist Eric Horvitz has publicly opposed Donald Trump’s proposal to impose a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulation. Speaking at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Horvitz emphasized that such a ban WOULD stifle necessary safeguards for a technology brimming with both promise and peril. Thoughtful oversight, he argued, is not an obstacle but a prerequisite for sustainable innovation.

The Republican-backed measure, tucked into a broader tax and spending bill, would condition state access to broadband funding on abstaining from new AI laws. Critics on Capitol Hill view this as an undemocratic strong-arm tactic to centralize regulatory authority. Bipartisan discomfort is growing, yet the provision remains intact—raising questions about corporate influence in shaping AI policy.

Tech giants are lobbying aggressively for a unified national framework, fearing a patchwork of state regulations. The debate intensifies as global AI competition accelerates, with the U.S. risking strategic disadvantage if its regulatory approach becomes fragmented or stagnant.