In Olympia, Murray Hears from State Leaders on WA Efforts to Regulate AI; Murray Emphasizes Need for Federal Action Without Preemption

Senator Murray: "We can't afford to regulate AI with nothing but a pinky promise. We cannot just wait for the worst risks of this technology to become reality before we take action."

Murray has opposed the Trump administration's efforts to stamp out state-level regulations of AI

ICYMI: In Seattle, Murray Highlights Urgent Need to Deploy AI Safely, Transparently, and to Benefit Working People; Murray Says Pro-Worker, Pro-Family Policies Don't Have to Wait

***VIDEO HERE***

Olympia, WA - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion with state leaders on Washington state's latest efforts to regulate AI and underscored the need for a strong federal floor to ensure AI is deployed safely, transparently, and benefits working people.

Joining Senator Murray for the discussion today were: Beau Perschbacher, Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Bob Ferguson; Yuki Ishizuka, Senior Policy Analyst and Technology Policy Manager at the Washington State Office of the Attorney General; Gretchen Peri, Chief Technology Officer at Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech); and Rob Eleveld, Chief Executive Officer at the Transparency Coalition.

"I'm not an expert in AI, I'm a former preschool teacher. But I'll tell you what: I ran for office exactly because I believe regular people deserve a say in how their government is run-the exact same is true for the development of this technology. There are real opportunities with AI-in medicine, in discovery. But this technology will also likely mean disruption and it poses real challenges and threats. And right now regulation of AI is virtually nonexistent at the federal level. I want America to develop and deploy this technology in a way that is transparent and safe-and we have got to make sure the benefits of AI are for everyone, not just billionaires and giant corporations. And we have to stay ahead of the risks too," said Senator Murray. "I recently spoke with the so-called godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, he made it absolutely clear that there are real safety risks that require urgent action. When the stakes are this high, we cannot take safety for granted. That's just common sense. No one would say nuclear plants can regulate themselves-or drug companies. Why would we ignore something as powerful and potentially dangerous as AI?"

"At minimum, over in Congress, we need to think about a floor of basic, bipartisan guardrails the entire country can get behind: for that to happen, we need hearings, briefings, testimony from industry leaders, markups, debate, and more. So far the Republican majority has done nothing. Trump wants to call AI risks a 'hoax' and call it a day. His most significant AI policies to date? He tried to rename it, and threatened states' funding if they dare to regulate it. Trump shaking hands with billionaires and saying they can regulate themselves is not going to cut it," continued Senator Murray. "We can't afford to regulate AI with nothing but a pinky promise. We cannot just wait for the worst risks of this technology to become reality before we take action."

"In Congress, we need to think about a floor of basic, bipartisan guardrails the entire country can get behind. There's no time to delay AI safety. When it comes to the economy, I absolutely want to explore big ideas. But we already know what working families need: paid leave, universal health care and child care, and stronger unions. If we're expecting major economic disruption, we should write that safety net into law now, not after workers have already been left behind," said Senator Murray in closing. "Washington state has been leading on these questions, and I came to Olympia to hear directly from state leaders about what they've done and what they're considering next. I'm taking what I heard back to the other Washington, because the people of this state, and this country, deserve a government that is ready for what's coming."

Senator Murray made clear that while policymakers can't yet predict exactly how AI will change our economy and how we work, there is no reason for Congress to delay in passing so many of Murray's longstanding legislative priorities that would benefit working people like stronger labor laws and enforcement, national paid leave, universal health care, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, affordable child care for every working family, and much more.

"We need guardrails to ensure that AI development does not infringe on our rights, harm our families, or pose an existential risk to our country," said Attorney General Nick Brown. "Congress should act swiftly to put these protections in place, and I appreciate Senator Murray's leadership on this issue."

"Artificial intelligence is reshaping how we work and serve the public, so Washington is approaching this moment with intention," said WaTech's Gretchen Peri, the State Chief Technology Officer for Washington. "The statewide AI strategy we've developed is committed to human-focused, trustworthy innovation, and gives state agencies the tools, guardrails, and shared platforms they need to deploy AI safely and transparently. Backed by new state laws that reinforce accountability and public trust, we're proving that government can lead AI adoption with responsibility, foresight, humanity, and dignity."

"We at Transparency Coalition want to thank Senator Murray for pulling together the AI Safety and Transparency roundtable today. We have been honored to work closely with Attorney General Nick Brown's office, Governor Ferguson's office and a number of legislators starting with Representative Callan on some key AI laws passed in 2026 including protecting minors from addictive and manipulative AI chatbots," said Rob Eleveld, CEO and Co-founder, Transparency Coalition. "Looking forward, our position across many states is the best way to hold AI companies accountable is to use existing product liability laws, the reason we all trust the brakes in our cars, to require a duty of care to not harm customers with AI products."

Earlier this year, Senator Murray met with leading AI experts in Seattle about the challenges and opportunities associated with AI to discuss how leaders can work to deploy AI safely, transparently, and in a way that benefits working people-not just giant corporations and billionaires.

As vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray negotiated the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2026, which is currently the largest federal investment in AI standards and testing ever passed through a CJS bill. The CJS bill includes $1.8 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) overall, an increase of $690 million over last year's funding level. This includes no less than $55 million for AI research, an increase of $20 million, and up to $10 million for NIST's Center for AI Standards and Innovation to advance AI research, standards, and testing. Senator Murray fiercely defended science agencies from President Trump's proposed reductions, which threatened to cut NIST by more than 28 percent.

Senator Murray also played a key role in helping to pass the bipartisan Chips and Science Act which makes historic investments in American manufacturing, and research and development. The bill included AI scholarships through NSF, funding for the Department of Energy's research and development on AI and machine learning, support for NIST's work on AI and quantum information science, and resources for the creation of a NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships which will focus on domestic development of AI and other quantum computing.

Senator Murray has called for Congress to regulate AI and been outspoken against President Trump's efforts to ban states from regulating AI. As President Trump called AI safety concerns a "hoax" and rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping, Senator Murray sent a letter urging him to take the threat seriously and work out real AI safeguards with China. She recently introduced legislation to halt the A.I.-Driven Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) model which is overruling doctors and delaying care for Medicare beneficiaries.

###