The U.S. Senate voted 99-1 to remove a proposed 10-year federal moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending measure, commonly called the “Big Beautiful Bill.” The decisive vote came during an all-night amendment session, eliminating language that would have barred states from enforcing or adopting their own AI laws. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn led the successful amendment after abandoning a compromise she had negotiated with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz that would have shortened the moratorium to five years and carved out limited exemptions. Senator Thom Tillis cast the lone vote to keep the ban; even Cruz ultimately supported striking it once the compromise collapsed. State officials, consumer advocates and a group of 17 Republican governors argued the moratorium would undercut protections against AI-related harms such as deepfakes and privacy violations. Major technology companies including Alphabet’s Google and OpenAI had lobbied for uniform federal rules, warning that a patchwork of state requirements could slow innovation and weaken U.S. competitiveness with China. With the AI provision removed, the Senate narrowly approved the broader tax-and-spending bill 51-50, sending the legislation back to the House for reconciliation. States retain authority to pursue their own AI guardrails, a power many have already begun exercising through dozens of bills introduced or enacted this year.