Source: Politico (paywall)
Meta's support for the Kids Online Safety Act comes with a condition: the legislation must neutralize state-level AI oversight. The package bundles age verification requirements with language that strips states of their ability to regulate AI—a trade Meta is willing to make because federal regulation offers more opportunity for influence than fragmented state rules. The strategy reveals where the actual negotiation over AI governance occurs: not in public statements about child safety, but in legislative language that shifts power from states to Washington.