Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general in expressing opposition to a renewed effort by Congress to ban states from enforcing any state law or regulation addressing artificial intelligence (AI). Raoul and a bipartisan group of attorneys general successfully opposed a similar proposed ban over the summer. However, recent reporting indicates that lawmakers may be considering inserting a state AI law ban into a military funding proposal. 

“Instead of stepping up to create a regulatory framework to protect Americans from the harms of AI, Congress is instead attempting to limit what states can and should do to protect their residents,” Raoul said. “I call on Congress to reject this latest effort and instead work with states to prevent AI from being used for nefarious purposes, including the creation of child sexual abuse material and attempted election interference.”

In a letter sent to Congress today, Raoul and the coalition acknowledge that AI is a transformative technology that has the potential to benefit everything from health care to public safety. As the highest legal officers in their respective states, however, attorneys general are also on the front lines of confronting the dangers of AI.

Recent reporting has shown how AI is distorting reality and enhancing delusions for some vulnerable users, being used to target senior citizens with convincing grandparent scams, engaging in inappropriate conversations with children, and, in the worst cases, reinforcing and encouraging self-harm and suicidal ideations in children and adults.

Raoul and the coalition highlight how a ban on state AI regulation could be catastrophic for public safety. Various states have enacted laws to protect their residents from the dangers of AI, including laws that prohibit AI tools that spread misinformation to voters, allow robocallers to spam people with scam phone calls and texts, deceive consumers about products on the market, compromise data privacy and use algorithms to manipulate and raise costs. And states’ existing consumer protection laws, including those that outlaw unfair and deceptive practices in the marketplace, apply to AI tools and services. Instead of a harmful prohibition on state AI laws, Raoul and the coalition are asking Congressional leaders to work with them on a substantive effort to create federal protections against harmful AI.

Today’s letter to Congress is the latest action Raoul has taken to protect Illinoisans from the harms of AI. In August, Raoul co-led a coalition of attorneys general demanding that Apple, Microsoft, Meta and AI tech companies adopt safeguards against predatory artificial intelligence assistants and chatbots that have inappropriate conversations with children. In 2024, Raoul initiated legislation that was signed into law prohibiting the use of AI technology to create child sexual abuse images that either involve real children or obscene imagery. Raoul also released a 2024 Voter Misinformation Guide to help Illinois voters identify and report election misinformation generated by AI. 

Joining Attorney General Raoul in sending this letter to Congress are the attorneys general of American Samoa, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington and Wisconsin.