Proposed AI and cybersecurity legislation: July 17, 2025 – August 22, 2025

You will notice several pieces of proposed legislation that do not appear to directly apply to AI. However, most are banking, stock market, and related bills that specifically give AI-related firms an advantage, even when not expressly stated in the text of the bill.
Note too that many AI firms, including but hardly limited to OpenAI, have set themselves up as “small businesses” or “nonprofits.” As you read the dry, boring Securities and Exchange Commission legislation for small businesses, keep that in mind. Republican senators are not proposing this legislation to protect actual small business.

S.2326 – Payment Choice Act of 2025. To ensure that United States currency is treated as legal tender to be accepted as payment for purchases of goods and services at brick-and-mortar businesses throughout the United States.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Kevin Cramer (R-ND). Cosponsored by JOHN FETTERMAN. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.
Comment: I love that John Fetterman and Kevin Cramer are pushing back against all-digital!

S.2381 – PROACTIV Artificial Intelligence Data Act of 2025 (Preventing Recurring Online Abuse of Children Through Intentional Vetting of Artificial Intelligence Data Act of 2025). To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop a framework for detecting, removing, and reporting child pornography in datasets used to train artificial intelligence systems.
Introduced July 22, 2025 by John Cornyn (R-TX). Cosponsored by Andy Kim (D-NJ). Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day.
Comment: This may not be a half-bad use for artificial intelligence. The bill would require AI developers and data scrapers to detect, remove, and report child pornography. It specifically excludes AI users from unintentional misconduct (but not intentional).

H.R.4600 - RESPECT Act. Responding to Exploitation and Sharing of Private Explicit Content and Threats Act. To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to increase the penalties related to intentional disclosure of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions.
Introduced July 22, 2025 by Nancy Mace (R-SC). No cosponsors. Referred to Energy and Commerce the same day.
Comment: This bill would increase the penalties related to intentional disclosure of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions. No one cosponsored this bill.
It took a while for the text of this bill to be uploaded. I think I understand why no one cosponsored. This bill is a tweak of the existing Communications Act with amendments. The only amendments would increase prison time for those convicted. No additional protections for women or minors or LGBTQ+, just additional punishment.

H.R.4640 - Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act of 2025. To prohibit certain uses of algorithmic decision systems to inform individualized prices and wages.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Greg Casar (R-TX). Twenty-six Democratic cosponsors, no Republicans. Referred to Energy and Commerce and Judiciary and Education and Workforce the same day.
Comment: This is a GOOD bill. There’s no reason for Republicans not to endorse it, except that Trump believes AI should not be regulated in any fashion. Can we allow only Trump Republicans to be surveilled by AI and prices set based on their gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, or location? And the rest of us can live under this bill?
Casar’s bill lays out how companies use AI for price gouging and wage fixing. Anyone concerned about AI’s invasiveness should read this bill. It’s not very long, but it’s eye-opening.

H.R.4649 - Smart Cities and Communities Act of 2025. To promote the use of smart technologies and systems in communities.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Suzan DelBene (D-WA). Cosponsored by Yvette Clarke (D-NY). Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Science, Space, and Technology and Education and Workforce and Foreign Affairs the same day.
Comment: This is a very long and comprehensive bill. If you read or write on this topic, please read the proposed legislation and comment here. I hoped I could quickly find differentiation between AI and other smart technology. It wasn’t easily findable.

S.2429 - Stop the Scammers Act. To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to ensure the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection retains adequate resources to ensure fair, transparent, and competitive markets for financial products and services for consumers and to provide for whistleblower incentives and protection.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). Cosponsored by twenty-three Democrats and one Independent [Bernie Sanders (I-VT)]. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.
Comment: I am genuinely pleased to see Democrats in the Senate working to preserve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over Trump Republican actions to kill it. This particular bill would not only protect whistleblowers, but would reward them with a percentage of the amount saved by the federal government due to their whistleblowing.

July 24, 2025 alert: July 30, 2025 meeting. 10:00AM(EDT), 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Hearings to examine “Guardrails and Growth,” focusing on AI’s role in capital and insurance markets. Meeting Details – Link has video of the meeting (a little over an hour long).

July 24, 2025 alert: July 30, 2025 meeting. 10:00AM(EDT), 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Business meeting to consider: … S.81, to require a guidance clarity statement on certain agency guidance, … S.861, to streamline the sharing of information among Federal disaster assistance agencies, to expedite the delivery of life-saving assistance to disaster survivors, to speed the recovery of communities from disasters, to protect the security and privacy of information provided by disaster survivors, … S.872, to amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to ensure that other transaction agreements are reported to USAspending.gov, ... To be immediately followed by a business meeting to consider … S.1498, to amend chapter 131 of title 5, United States Code, to prohibit transactions involving certain financial instruments by Members of Congress, S.2144, to improve the safety and security of Members of Congress, immediate family members of Members of Congress, and congressional staff, the nominations of Pedro Allende, of Florida, to be Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and Sean Plankey, of Pennsylvania, to be Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, both of the Department of Homeland Security…

S.2471 - 21st Century Mortgage Act of 2025. To require government-sponsored enterprises to consider digital assets in a mortgage loan risk assessment.
Introduced July 28, 2025 by Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.
Comment: NONONONONONO. Lummis wants digital assets to be considered as part of real estate or other mortgage loan applications. Will Trump Republicans never learn?

S.2528 - Unleashing AI Innovation in Financial Services Act. To establish AI Innovation Labs that permit certain persons to experiment with artificial intelligence without expectation of enforcement actions.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Mike Rounds (D-SD). Cosponsored by Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Thomas Tillis (R-NC), and Andy Kim (D-NJ). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.
Comment: You may want to write these four gentlemen and let them know that unregulated AI is a very bad idea indeed. This bill is government-sponsored chaos.

EC1412 - July 29, 2025. From the Acting General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, transmitting, pursuant to law, the report of a rule entitled “Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standard CIP-015-1 - Cyber Security - Internal Network Security Monitoring.”

H.R.4811 - Cell-Site Simulator Warrant Act of 2025. To amend title 18, United States Code, to regulate the use of cell-site simulators.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Ted Lieu (D-CA). Cosponsored by Tom McClintock (R-CA). Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and Intelligence (Permanent Select) and Armed Services and Energy and Commerce the same day.
Comment: If cybersecurity is your thing, please read and summarize in the comments! My gut tells me this is an important piece of legislation.

EC1600 – July 29, 2025. From the Federal Register Liaison, Internal Revenue Service, transmitting the Service’s final rule - Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales.

S.2533 - Pick Up After Your DOGE Act. To require performance and security audits of certain agency computer systems.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Cosponsored by Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs the same day.
Comment: This wins the Internet for today! Pick up your doge, indeed! Please reward whichever staffer came up with the title for this bill.

S.2558 - The National Quantum Cybersecurity Migration Strategy Act of 2025. To require the Subcommittee on the Economic and Security Implications of Quantum Information Science to assess possible migration by Federal agencies to post-quantum cryptography.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Gary Peters (D-MI). Cosponsored by Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs the same day.
Comment: I do not know enough about cryptography and cybersecurity to comment intelligently on this bill. If you do, please read and post a comment so we can learn from you. Thanks!

S.2609 - Financial Technology Protection Act of 2025. To establish an Independent Financial Technology Working Group to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing.
Introduced July 31, 2025 by Ted Budd (R-NC). Cosponsored by Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.

S.2615 - VET Artificial Intelligence Act (Validation and Evaluation for Trustworthy (VET) Artificial Intelligence Act). To require the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop voluntary guidelines and specifications for internal and external assurances of artificial intelligence systems.
Introduced July 31, 2025 by John Hickenlooper (D-CO). Cosponsored by Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day.
Comment: The weakness of this bill centers in the word “voluntary.” Voluntary regulation rarely works. The bill probably doesn’t stand a chance of getting out of committee (prove me wrong, Ted!), because of Trump’s insistence at total deregulation of AI.

S.2670 - STOP Scammers Act (Strengthening Targeting of Organized Predatory Scammers Act). To require the Secretary of the Treasury to designate certain covered organizations as Foreign Financial Threat Organizations.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Rick Scott (R-FL). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day.

S.2676 - Cloud LAB Act of 2025. To require the Director of the National Science Foundation to carry out a cloud laboratory network program.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Todd Young (R-IN). Cosponsored by Andy Kim (D-NJ). Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation the same day.

H.R.4930 - To expand the sharing of information with respect to suspected violations of intellectual property rights in trade. (No short title.)
Introduced August 8, 2025 by Blake Moore (R-UT). Cosponsored by Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL) and Adrian Smith (R-NE). Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means the same day.
Comment: Why not? And why is this Ways and Means, which is involved with taxes? This proposed legislation applies solely to the IP of items shipped.

August 9, 2025 alert: Transcript of the April 10, 2024 hearing was released. “The Federal and Non-Federal Role of Assessing Cyber Threats To and Vulnerabilities Of Critical Water Infrastructure in our Energy Sector.”

H.R.4966 - Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act of 2025. To prohibit retail food stores from price gouging and engaging in surveillance-based price setting practices.
Introduced August 12, 2025 by Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Cosponsored by twenty-seven Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Judiciary the same day.

H.R.4974 - DETECT Act of 2025 (Digital Evaluation for Tax Enforcement and Compliance Tracking Act of 2025). To require the Comptroller General to submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress on the potential of artificial intelligence to assist the Internal Revenue Service in detecting tax fraud.
Introduced August 15, 2025 by Vern Buchanan (R-FL). Cosponsored by six Republicans and one Democrat (Adam Smith (D-WA)). Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means the same day.
Comment: Adam, no! Just no! We do not need AI involved in anything else.

H.R.5006 - Health Privacy From Global Bureaucrats Act. To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury to take such actions as may be necessary to prohibit the release of taxpayer, patient, or vaccine data to the World Health Organization or a foreign government.
Introduced August 19, 2025 by Gregory Steube (R-FL). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means the same day.

August 22, 2025 alert: Transcript of May 16, 2023 hearing. Artificial intelligence in government. A sad reminder that there used to be adults in the room.

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