AI Backlash Seen as Congress Dithers on Regulation
Doubts about safety of AI lead to calls for “human guardrails;” US is seen as unprepared for move to digital AI economy; a US public school adopts guidelines for AI use similar to that of EU’s AI Act
By John P. Desmond, Editor, AI in Business
While the tech titans currently hold sway in Washington, DC and Congress is considering a 10–year pause in regulation of AI, a backlash is building.
The backlash is set up by tech billionaires surrounding Donald Trump at his last inauguration – Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and of course, Elon Musk – then with Musk heading the DOGE unit and using AI to slash federal agencies and employees. That did little to put a positive spin on AI.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation that would pause state regulation of AI for 10 years. Vice President JD Vance said at the Paris AI summit in February that “excessive regulation” could slow down the fast-growing AI industry, according to a report from the AP. The US Congress has not passed any comprehensive AI regulation to date. The EU, in contrast, passed the AI Act last year, defining an AI risk assessment framework, arguably the world’s best attempt to regulate AI.
Warning of a coming “AI backlash,” author Darrell M. West, writing for Brookings, stated, “Large numbers of Americans harbor major doubts about AI.” West is a senior fellow with the Center for Technology Innovation and the author of many books on provocative technology topics.
As evidence, he cited a 2025 Heartland survey reporting that 72% of US adults have concerns about AI. “Among other issues, they are worried about privacy intrusions, cybersecurity risks, a lack of transparency, and racial and gender biases emanating from AI algorithms,” West stated.
He also cited a 2023 Brooks Press book, “Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age?” by author Tom Wheeler, which suggested the combination of tech innovation in AI and highly concentrated wealth, would lead to public demands for oversight and regulation. ‘Since that book came out two years ago, the need for human guardrails has become even more apparent,” West stated.
Tech leaders have not been consistent in calling for regulation of AI. At a 2023 congressional hearing, OpenAI CEO called for AI regulation. In front of Congress in May 2025, “Altman reversed his stance–saying everything was fine in his sector and there was no need for regulation,” West Stated.
Problems with AI are well documented, with AI hallucinating alternate facts, and “that material is increasingly being incorporated into LLMs and presented to users as factual information,” he stated.
Privacy Regulations Trampled
The Musk DOGE team in Washington did a number on confidence in privacy regulation. “Data abuses are proliferating. DOGE staffers have gained extraordinary access to government data with little oversight, raising widespread concerns about privacy intrusions carried out under the banner of fraud investigations,” West stated.
One bureaucrat with a reasonable perspective on the state of AI regulation in the US is Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the FCC under President Barack Obama. Quoted recently in Radio Ink, Wheeler said US regulators have “failed to step up” to AI regulation and that is going to lead to more inconsistencies worldwide.
Wheeler, who led the commission from 2013 to 2017, spoke at a Catalysts gathering conducted by Yahoo! Finance, where he discussed the challenges of AI regulation and the need to oversee Big Tech effectively.
The US, he suggested, is unprepared to move to a digital AI economy. “In the United States, our policymakers have failed to step up to that challenge,” he stated, “and we are seeing the rules being developed by other nations and by states in the United States, both of which will create new problems for those tech companies who rely on a uniform market.”
He characterized the EU’s AI Act as ensuring “competitiveness and fairness in the market, something that American regulators have failed to do.” Calling the AI Act “agile” and “encouraging innovations and investment,” he said the EU’s approach “is setting the standard for how we should approach things in the United States.”
Passed by the European Parliament in March, the AI Act’s regulations focus on data quality, transparency, human oversight and accountability. The act incorporates a risk-based approach, categorizing AI systems by their potential threat levels and adjusting regulatory requirements accordingly.
Public School Employs Traffic Light Metaphor in AI Guidelines
One hint that the EU Act’s approach might have practical value, is that a similar rubric is being applied by public school teachers in the US when they teach about AI.
The Wayne, NJ school district, in its policy on “Acceptable Use of Generative AI,” uses a traffic light system for determining when students may use AI, according to an account from TapInto Wayne. Red means no AI tools allowed; yellow means limited AI use is allowed with clear guidelines, and green means the AI tools are integrated into the assignment.
The AI can help create “individualized lesson plans for students who may have different needs,” and that this could assist the school's Multi-Tiered System of Supports policy, stated Ryan Battershill, a Wayne school board trustee.
Adoption of the AI policy was the school’s first step in embracing the technology for education while trying to maintain “academic integrity.”
“The Board recognizes the potential of AI tools to enhance and transform a student’s educational and co-curricular experience in the district,” the policy states. “However, outputs generated by AI may be inaccurate, inappropriate, or incomplete. Therefore, to ensure the responsible use of AI and to maintain academic integrity, students shall be required to comply …”
Special education students are allowed to use AI tools as accommodation. Teachers are expected to review AI-generated content for bias or inaccuracies. If dishonesty is suspected, a structured review process ensues and violations are addressed with disciplinary actions. Teachers and students are encouraged to maintain an open dialogue on ethical AI use.
The full text of Policy 2365 is available here on the Wayne Township Public Schools website.
Read the source articles and information from the AP, Brookings, in Radio Ink and from TapInto Wayne.