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ARTICLE · 24 MARCH 2026

Proposed Senate Bill Could Bring Sweeping Changes To AI Liability, Section 230, And State Regulation, And Introduces Protections For AI Use

Barnes & Thornburg LLP
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On March 18, 2026, Sen. Marsha Blackburn released the Trump America AI Act, a nearly 300-page discussion draft seeking to establish a regulatory framework around AI.

United StatesTechnology
Kaitlyn E. Stone
Kaitlyn E. Stone
Brian McGinnis
Brian McGinnis
Owen Agho
Owen Agho
William M. Carlucci
William M. Carlucci
Bryan Castro
Bryan Castro
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Highlights

  • The Trump America AI Act (the Bill) is a discussion draft that would impose liability and a duty of care on AI developers and deployers to prevent foreseeable harm, moving AI regulation toward a products liability framework.
  • The Bill also includes several provisions that preempt certain state AI regulations, while also explicitly permitting states to enact laws with greater protections than the Bill offers.
  • Despite its stated goal of establishing one federal rulebook, the draft's general savings clause may leave substantial room for generally applicable state consumer-protection, bias-audit, transparency, and algorithmic-accountability laws.
  • The draft would repeal Section 230 two years after enactment, significantly reshaping platform and AI litigation exposure.

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