The Leadership Conference Denounces Executive Order Blocking State and Local AI Laws, Calls for Federal AI Protections

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WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the executive order attempting to block state and local AI laws signed today:  

“The administration just won’t let their failed block on state and local AI laws die. It’s not enough that it was rebuked in a 99-1 vote in the Senate after advocates and constituents weighed in. Or that it failed multiple times when its supporters tried to attach it to the NDAA. Or even that the majority of the American public oppose it because they see it for what it is: another free pass for tech companies. This regime cares more about the tech CEOs funding a gilded ballroom than the people they’re charged to serve, handing the industry tax breaks and lucrative contracts on a silver platter, all while rolling back guardrails that keep the rest of us safe. This executive order is another example of the current administration bullying state and local governments to get what it wants, threatening lawsuits and the revocation of federal funding while making hollow carveouts. That’s the same playbook we’re seeing play out in the federal takeover of cities across the country, and it won’t stand up in court. 

“AI harms are all too real for communities across the nation. Automated systems have wrongly blocked countless individuals from housing, health care, and jobs they deserve. As advocates dedicated to protecting and expanding opportunity, we can never support a ban on local protections while there are no federal safeguards to speak of. We stand by to work with Congressional leaders and supportive members of the tech industry to pass comprehensive federal protections that work for all of us, like the recently introduced AI Civil Rights Act.”    

Earlier this afternoon before the executive order was signed, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights convened a press briefing with Attorneys General Letitia James of New York and Matthew J. Platkin of New Jersey, and with Damon Hewitt, President & Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. A recording from the briefing is available here and a transcript here. When the ban was first included in the appropriations package this summer, The Leadership Conference led 60 civil rights organizations opposing it. 

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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