Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) released a 269-page discussion draft of the Great American AI Act on June 4, the most comprehensive federal AI framework Congress has produced to date and the first that pairs mandatory frontier-lab disclosure with a hard three-year ceiling on state model-development laws.

The structure is split across four titles: Frontier AI Governance, Workforce, Cybersecurity, and Research, Development, and International Cooperation. Cosponsors include Reps. Scott Franklin, Suhas Subramanyam, Erin Houchin, and Scott Peters, giving the draft balanced cover on both sides.

Section 111 forces “large frontier developers,” defined as firms above $500 million in prior-year gross revenue, to file frontier AI frameworks, transparency reports, and critical safety incident notices. Section 112 routes audits through Independent Verification Organizations licensed by the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), which the draft formally codifies at $100 million per year for FY2027–2029, per FedScoop. Section 113 bars retaliation against AI whistleblowers.

The preemption is the political fault line. According to Roll Call, the bill freezes state laws “specifically regulating the development” of AI models for three years, while leaving deployment and use laws intact. Trahan’s office names California’s AB 2013 and parts of the Transparency in Frontier AI Act among the casualties.

Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of the Alliance for Secure AI, backs the catastrophic-risk focus but opposes that trade. “A national AI standard should protect at least as much as it preempts,” he told Roll Call.

The timing is its own tell. The draft landed two days after President Trump’s June 2 executive order setting a voluntary 30-day pre-release review for frontier models, converting an opt-in posture into a statutory floor with audits attached. Builders working below the $500M line, including no-code shops like LemonLime, sit outside Section 111 entirely.

Sponsors are taking feedback at [email protected]. No filing date is set.

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