{"id":8899,"date":"2026-04-20T23:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/8899\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T23:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T23:33:10","slug":"missouri-ai-regulation-bills-stall-amid-federal-pressure-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/8899\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri AI regulation bills stall amid federal pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – As Missouri lawmakers debate how to regulate AI content, directions from the federal government are looming over their heads.<\/p>\n

Missouri lawmakers are considering 16 bills that would put regulations on AI content, but with less than a month left in the legislative session, neither chamber has approved a bill. Lawmakers from both parties are in agreement on policies that say AI cannot have human rights or be a licensed professional.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Joe Nicola said his bill has not moved forward because of directions from the Trump administration that says states should wait for the U.S. Congress to pass a regulation law. <\/p>\n

The executive order<\/a> President Trump put out says funding for rural broadband could be at risk if state lawmakers don\u2019t align with his plan. A Utah lawmaker was told by the Trump administration his bill doesn\u2019t fit into their AI plan.<\/p>\n

The executive order reads, \u201cUnited States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation. But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative. First, State-by-State regulation by definition creates a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes that makes compliance more challenging, particularly for start-ups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, AI is rapidly advancing and we have no regulation on it whatsoever,\u201d said Nicola.<\/p>\n

Nicola\u2019s bill would declare AI systems non-sentient entities and prohibit the government from granting them legal personhood. The bill would bar AI systems from being recognized as spouses, domestic partners, or serving as officers or directors within companies.<\/p>\n

The bill would require owners or operators using AI systems to notify consumers, clients, and patients if they are interacting with AI. Licensed professionals using AI would be required to exercise independent professional judgment and retain final authority over any determination, diagnosis, or recommendation. Any harm caused by an AI system would be the responsibility of the owner or operator of the system.<\/p>\n

When brought to the floor, Nicola\u2019s bill was filibustered by two fellow Republicans who are concerned about losing broadband funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned, I don\u2019t want the state to lose broadband funding,\u201d Nicola said. \u201cIf they feel like that\u2019s going to happen then the bill\u2019s not going to come back up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicola said he has been working directly with the White House to make sure his bill fits within their framework while still accomplishing goals in Missouri.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a sovereign state, and we need legislatures that are gonna stand up and act like we\u2019re a sovereign state,\u201d Nicola said.<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Lilly Fuchs said Trump\u2019s executive order has not been a discussion in the Missouri House and conversations are productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that there\u2019s really some bipartisan support to carve the best legislation with the information that we have right now,\u201d Fuchs said.<\/p>\n

Only 16% of Missouri voters polled by YouGov and SLU<\/a> believe recent AI innovations had a positive effect on society.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KFVS. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – As Missouri lawmakers debate how to regulate AI content, directions from the federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,2975,7648,7649,7647,5413,602,2447,464,1715,121],"class_list":{"0":"post-8899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ai","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-bill","11":"tag-federal","12":"tag-human-rights","13":"tag-jefferson-city","14":"tag-lawmakers","15":"tag-missouri","16":"tag-political","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-regulation","19":"tag-state"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}