AI & Insurers — From Congress to Washington State

The original House version of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill had a 10-year freeze on any state regulations or laws regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This was driven by the tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp).

They pushed Congress to come up with a unified approach to regulate AI. The tech heavyweights worry rules unique to the individual states could stifle innovation and slow down, or stop, competition with China.

Members in the Senate agreed and, in a bipartisan effort, the Senate voted 99 to 1 to remove the moratorium. It wasn’t added back into the bill when the House passed the final bill and sent it to the president to sign it into law. He did that on July 4th.

Pressure from across the political spectrum from PIA National and the independent agents of the PIA who contacted their members of Congress, to the Heritage Foundation, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and others, got the job done.

“The business of insurance has been successfully regulated at the state level for over a century,” PIA National CEO Mike Skiados told Weekly Industry News. “And the local expertise of state insurance regulators has proven beneficial for consumers, insurers, and the industry at large, thanks to their ability to quickly respond to emerging insurance risks associated with changing technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).”

One insurance department — Washington State’s — is stepping in to do just that. Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer said she has set up an advisory board to look at how insurers are using AI and what impact it might have on consumers.

The first Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board meeting was held on June 30th.

“We know that AI is already used throughout our insurance and health care industries,” Kuderer said. “The goal of our new advisory board is to ensure Washington state continues to be a place for innovation, while balancing emerging technologies with strong consumer protections.”

Kuderer’s predecessor Mike Kreidler sent a bulletin to insurers in 2024 advising them decisions or actions impacting consumers that are made or supported by AI or other advanced analytical and computational technologies must follow insurance laws and regulations, including those that govern unfair trade practices and discrimination. 

“I see our new AI Advisory Board as a potential vehicle for agency request legislation, rulemaking, and general OIC internal policy decisions on governance and innovation,” Kuderer said.

Source link: Washington Department of Insurance — https://bit.ly/4lhHyjM