As concerns about artificial intelligence continue to grow, lawmakers on Tuesday debated how, and even if, the state should regulate the technology.
Lawmakers on the Science, Technology, and Telecommunications interim committee addressed an array of concerns, including hackers using AI tools to phishing emails used to obtain sensitive information, or using AI-generated deepfakes or voice clones to scam people.
According to statistics, a cyber attack occurs every 39 seconds on average.
Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos) said part of a lawmakers’ role is to ensure health and safety for residents and that includes regulating AI.
“I think we now have to start thinking a bit more broadly in terms of protecting our citizens from risk,” she said.
Sen. William Soules (D-Doña Ana) questioned whether the state should act on AI regulation at all and whether it’s the federal government’s job to step in.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” initially contained a provision that would have put a 10-year delay on any state regulation of artificial intelligence. But some lawmakers opposed that, claiming it would leave AI development unchecked.
In response, U.S. Senate Republicans revised the provision by reducing it to five years and adding exceptions. However, the final version of the bill signed by President Trump stripped any delays on AI from the bill.
Chandler said ideally the state should be relying on the federal government, but that doesn’t seem likely.
“In the absence of federal regulation, I think we as a body have been acting very proactively to support our residents in the state,” she said.
Soules recommended funding an agency that could monitor and enforce law on AI rather than trying to pass legislation that could quickly become obsolete.
“How do we do this, where we empower a more nimble mechanism for making the changes, rather than try and cover everything in a super long technical bill where it's going to change and we're likely to get so many things wrong,” he said.
The committee noted how fast AI is moving which could change future decisions but a majority say they’re committed to working on a plan for the longer 2027 legislative session.
Previous efforts to legislate AI regulation have so far failed.
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