The Senate’s AI Vote Just Changed How Every Company Must Prepare

Guest Editorial by Jared Navarre, Founder, Keyni Consulting

For the past two years, business leaders have been integrating AI with one hand while keeping the other hovering over the brake pedal, waiting for someone in Washington to finally tell them what the rules of the road will be.

Many business leaders were hoping those rules would be handed down decisively and exclusively on the federal level — a single, coherent national framework instead of a sprawling, politically fragmented patchwork of regulatory requirements put out periodically and shaped by the varying agendas of each state’s current ruling party. But that hope was lost in July 2025, when the US Senate struck down a provision that would have imposed a 10-year moratorium on state regulations targeting AI use.

With “federal cover” out of play, companies across the US must now prepare for a different type of legislative assault that will require greater vigilance and focus, given the lack of coordination between federal and state legislators.

A brief history of the rejected moratorium

The provision that would have prevented states from issuing AI rules for the next decade, which was struck down by a vote of 99-1, was included in the “One Big Beautiful Act” that US President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025. Lawmakers churned through multiple iterations of the provision, including one that would have allowed for regulations but penalized states that enacted them by denying them federal subsidies for AI infrastructure. It was also suggested that the moratorium be reduced from 10 to five years.

The final decision to remove the provision altogether was inspired by the argument that state lawmakers are the only lawmakers in the US who have been actively addressing the problems posed by AI integration. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), one of the lawmakers who introduced the winning provision, noted that states have been “the ones that are protecting children in the virtual space,” while Congress has sat on the sidelines. Whether or not one agrees with that assessment, it became a decisive talking point and the foundation for stripping the federal shield altogether.

What the present tells us about the future

If business leaders want a preview of the future of AI-related controls they might face from state regulators, they don’t need to speculate; they just need to look at what’s already happening. Statistics show that over 100 state laws addressing AI were enacted in 2024, and more than 70 have been enacted so far in 2025.

Laws already in place address a wide range of issues, from protecting AI development and determining the owners of AI-generated content to preventing algorithmic discrimination and banning AI-assisted social scoring.

As businesses survey the current legislative landscape, the signal is unmistakable: regulation will hit every business, in every state, often with conflicting requirements and very little warning. Some reports say there are more than 1,000 AI-related bills currently moving through state legislatures, which could bring fresh requirements that impact virtually every area of business operations. Businesses should also note that all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC, introduced AI-related bills in 2025, meaning every business within US borders, regardless of size, should expect to be affected.

The steps needed to future-proof AI integration strategies

Vigilance is the obvious first step toward being aware of legislation as it takes shape and its implications. This will be hard for small companies that don’t have the time or resources to track, assess, and provide feedback with the hopes of influencing proposed legislation. But it won’t be any easier for large companies with multi-state operations that will need to keep their eyes on multiple legislative landscapes, paying close attention to the language of laws and noting when similar issues are addressed in disparate ways.

Future-proofing your AI strategy also requires future-proofing starts with ruthless vendor intelligence. Most companies aren’t actually building AI; they’re buying it, which means your compliance posture is only as strong as the least prepared third-party tool in your stack

If your business is like most, you rely on a third party for your AI applications, meaning you trust them to keep you in compliance. Are they tracking the legislation that could impact their product? Are they taking steps to stay compliant? Do they expect that pending legislation will negatively affect their operations — and your operations — in the near future? You need to know the answers to those questions.

Finally, adapting to whatever controls your local lawmakers may hand down in the future requires building an AI-aware, agile team. Starting with onboarding, ensure all your employees understand the roles they play — both micro and macro — in your AI implementation strategies.

Your company will probably face new AI controls issued by state lawmakers in the near future. Regulation is coming quickly, inconsistently, and from every direction. Companies that treat this as a moving target instead of a one-time compliance project will be the ones who stay ahead.

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Jared Navarre, founder of Keyni Consulting, is a multidisciplinary entrepreneur and creative strategist with a proven track record of launching, scaling, and exiting ventures across IT, logistics, entertainment, and service industries. With a verified IQ of 156 on the WAIS-IV, Navarre is widely regarded as one of the most effective problem solvers in business — blending systems thinking, creative execution, and operational precision across various industries. He has consulted over 250 businesses, designing operational systems, resilient infrastructure, and multi-platform brand ecosystems that resonate across niche and mainstream markets. He is also the chair of several humanitarian NGOs, including Project AK-47 and IN-Fire, and the creator of ZILLION, an immersive music project that fuses narrative, multimedia, and live performance into a cohesive storytelling experience.