IP Law Daily, AI NEWS: Bipartisan Senate bill takes aim at AI companies’ theft of copyrighted works, personal data, (Jul 22, 2025)

By Cheryl Beise, J.D.

Senators Hawley and Blumenthal have introduced legislation to prohibit tech companies from training AI models using creative works and personal data without permission.

Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) on June 21 introduced legislation to bar Artificial Intelligence providers from using copyrighted works, personal data, images, and likenesses to train AI models without permission. The AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act would create a new federal tort and a private right of action for individuals and classes to sue AI companies for noncompliance with the law. The law sets a minimum standard of protection and would not preempt existing state laws or stricter future state laws.

“AI companies are robbing the American people blind while leaving artists, writers, and other creators with zero recourse,” said Senator Hawley. “It’s time for Congress to give the American worker their day in court to protect their personal data and creative works. My bipartisan legislation would finally empower working Americans who now find their livelihoods in the crosshairs of Big Tech’s lawlessness.”

“This bill embodies a bipartisan consensus that AI safeguards are urgent—because the technology is moving at accelerating speed, and so are dangers to privacy,” Senator Blumenthal said. “Tech companies must be held accountable—and liable legally—when they breach consumer privacy, collecting, monetizing or sharing personal information without express consent. Consumers must be given rights and remedies—and legal tools to make them real—not relying on government enforcement alone.”

The legislation follows a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on AI Training chaired by Senator Hawley last week. Most of the witnesses advocated for limits on AI models’ ability to train on large data sets without protecting creators’ rights. Some noted that current copyright law has not been up to the task, while one law professor opined that AI models serve a transformative purpose that is outside the scope of copyright protection.

The AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act would:

• Bar AI companies from using registered or unregistered copyrighted materials for AI training or AI-generated content without prior consent.

• Bar AI companies from using personal data—including personally identifiable information, geolocation data, biometric information, and behavioral data—for AI training or AI-generated content without prior consent.

• Require companies to clearly disclose every third party that would access an individual’s data before consent is sought.

• Create a federal tort for data misuse. Individuals and classes of individuals could sue any person or company that appropriates, uses, sells, or exploits their personal data or copyrighted works without affirmative consent.

• Provide for a range of remedies, including actual damages, minimal statutory damages, disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief, and attorney fees.

• Set a minimum standard of protection for individuals. The law would not preempt existing state laws or any future state laws that provides greater or additional rights.

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