Zephyr Teachout: AI giants seek the same broad legal immunity tech platforms got 30 years ago
Grady_Booch · x · 2026-09-16
Legal scholar Zephyr Teachout (amplified by Grady Booch) draws a direct line from the 1990s decision to grant tech platforms broad immunity from common law and state law to what AI companies are asking for today.
Key points:
- 30 years ago, "the internet" was placed in a special legal category, untethered from common law, state law, and tort.
- Big AI companies are now asking, "in 100 different ways," for exemptions from existing law, preemption of state law, and their own dedicated regulator.
- Her argument: "wholly different = wholly new regime, reject law as it lives in the world" — and history shows how costly that special immunity proved to be.
A substantive intervention in the ongoing US debate over federal preemption of state AI rules.
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