AI Policy Newsletter - September 12, 2025

• On September 12, Axios reported that later this month the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will release a Request for Information asking for public feedback on federal regulations that hold back the development and deployment of AI. The step marks the first policy action recommended in the White House's AI action plan aimed at removing bureaucratic red tape. In an interview with Axios, OSTP Director Michael Kratsios said that Europe's comprehensive EU AI Act is "not at all the way the U.S. is approaching this" space and that the White House is instead backing a "use-case and sector-specific" framework.

  
  

• On September 10, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a legislative framework “designed to promote American leadership in artificial intelligence.” The light-touch approach aims to (1) unleash American innovation and long-term growth; (2) protect free speech in the age of AI; (3) prevent a patchwork of burdensome AI regulation; (4) stop nefarious uses of AI against Americans; and (5) defend human value and dignity.

  • As a first step of this framework, Cruz introduced legislation – the SANDBOX Act - that would allow AI companies to submit an application to the relevant federal agency to “modify or waive (federal AI) regulations that could impede their work”. Agencies would then make decisions on waiver applications in coordination with OSTP. While passage of any standalone AI legislation remains a high bar, the introduction of a bill from the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee is notable.

    
    

• In August, Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced the GAIN AI Act, legislation that would establish a mandatory “first right of refusal” for U.S. customers on advanced processors. The provision, which has been included as an amendment to the Senate’s FY2026 NDAA, has received criticism from the chip industry, including from the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) and Nvidia, which have warned that the language would make it harder for U.S. chipmakers to compete with China. The Senate is currently working through procedural hurdles to vote on its version of the NDAA, while the House narrowly passed its separate version on September 10, in a largely partisan vote. Negotiations will be needed to sort out the differences among the House and Senate bills – as comparable language to the GAIN Act is presently not in the House-passed bill.

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