Copyright concerns and changes in the workplace coincided to suggest the president’s bill may not be as cozy for “tech bros” like Mark Zuckerberg as previously portrayed.
While Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough took umbrage with a considerable number of provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill, a moratorium barring states from regulating artificial intelligence for five years was cleared for the budget reconciliation process.
Though perceived as a gift to Big Tech toward advancing AI, an ousting at the U.S. Copyright Office and a lawsuit involving materials like President Donald Trump’s own “The Art of the Deal” suggested Silicon Valley was not without scrutiny.
“The rift between President Donald Trump and the technology sector geeks and gurus the media collectively refer to as the ‘tech bros’ may be even bigger than it seems, and potentially about to expand,” contended writer and Editor Caleb Howe in an op-ed for Mediaite.
Within the piece, Howe addressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s AI model, Llama, said to have admitted to using over 190,000 books, which included copyrighted materials like Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” along with works from the president’s family, to train the AI without payment. Those alleged actions had resulted in a lawsuit from author Richard Kadrey.
Prior to the conclusion of Elon Musk’s advisory role through DOGE, the termination of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter has been seen as an attempt to “eliminate any resistance to AI companies using copyrighted material to train models without having to pay for it.” However, Howe highlighted that her expected replacement, Paul Perkins, “is seen as unfriendly to Big Tech.”
Article III Project founder Mike Davis responded to the termination of Perlmutter by stating, “Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal creators’ copyrights for AI profits. This is 100% unacceptable,” and the president reposted the statement on his own Truth Social page.
Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal creators’ copyrights for AI profits.
This is 100% unacceptable.https://t.co/Eyc02gIscX
— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) May 10, 2025
“If you’re Zuckerberg, the drama is not what you want when you’re hoping for a friendly regulatory environment or free stuff. He’s got to be worried, million-dollar donation to Trump’s second inauguration or not,” asserted Howe. “Trump built his empire on licensing himself. Now Meta is allegedly doing the same — but without cutting him a check. For a guy who wanted a cut of the campaign funds from candidates in his own party using his name on the stump — well, it’s hard to imagine he’s going to be down with that, no matter how bad we need to beat China in the AI ‘space race.’ And we definitely, badly, do need to.”
Meanwhile, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) announced Sunday that she had reached a deal with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, head of the Senate Commerce Committee, to alter the language of the bill from a 10-year regulatory moratorium to only five years if a state wanted access to $500 million in AI infrastructure in the OBBB.
“For decades, Congress has proven incapable of passing legislation to govern the virtual space and protect Americans from being exploited by Big Tech, and it’s why I continue to fight to pass federal protections for Tennesseans and Americans alike,” she said in a statement reported by The Hill.
“To ensure we do not decimate the progress states like Tennessee have made to stand in the gap, I am pleased Chairman Cruz has agreed to update the AI provision to exempt state laws that protect kids, creators, and other vulnerable individuals from the unintended consequences of AI,” detailed Blackburn in explaining the agreement further. “I look forward to working with him in the coming months to hold Big Tech accountable — including by passing the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework that gives consumers more power over their data.”
“It’s time to get the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to the President’s desk so we can deliver on our promise of enacting the America First agenda,” the senator added.
Adding to the notion that newer industries like Big Tech weren’t getting a favorable deal, Musk voiced his own concerns Sunday in response to the suggestion that wind and solar projects would be facing tax increases from the OBBB.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” the billionaire posted to X. “Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”
The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!
Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. https://t.co/TZ9w1g7zHF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025
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Author: Kevin Haggerty
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