Pennsylvania‘s Senate unanimously passed legislation making it a crime to distribute deepfake AI images while misrepresenting them as authentic, expanding the state’s forgery laws to include digitally-generated likenesses. However, the bill faces potential nullification from a federal budget provision that would ban states from enforcing AI regulations for the next decade, threatening Pennsylvania’s entire slate of AI-related legislation.
What you should know: The new bill would criminalize passing off deepfake images “with intent to defraud or injure anyone,” building on last year’s law that addressed AI-generated child pornography and non-consensual explicit material.
In plain English: Deepfakes are AI-generated images that can make it appear someone said or did something they never actually did, often created by feeding artificial intelligence programs thousands of photos to learn how to mimic a person’s appearance.
The federal threat: A clause buried in the proposed federal budget deal would prohibit state-level AI enforcement for ten years, reportedly added at the urging of AI development companies seeking to avoid a “patchwork of state-level regulations.”
• The moratorium would nullify all existing Pennsylvania AI laws, including both the newly passed deepfake bill and previous measures targeting AI-generated explicit content.
• Hundreds of bipartisan state lawmakers nationwide have signed a letter urging Congress to reverse course, warning that a decade-long suspension would “restrict policymakers from responding to emerging issues.”
What they’re saying: “We’ve got to protect our children now, and we’ve got to protect our constituents now,” said Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Montgomery County, one of the bill’s prime sponsors, emphasizing the need for immediate action rather than waiting for federal regulatory frameworks.
• “We’re very, very concerned,” Pennycuick added. “What’ll happen is that will nullify all of our AI bills.”
Broader implications: The federal provision would also affect pending Pennsylvania legislation, including a House proposal requiring political campaigns to disclose AI-generated candidate images.
Budget timeline uncertainty: While the budget bill passed the House last month, it faces significant Senate hurdles beyond the AI issue, including concerns about adding trillions to the federal deficit and cutting Medicaid coverage to offset proposed tax cuts.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...