Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz is targeting July 29 for a full-committee markup of the Kids Online Safety Act (S.1748), the Kids Off Social Media Act (S.278), and AI-related legislation, according to a person familiar with the discussions cited by Bloomberg Government. Today’s executive session in Russell 253 offered no preview: the agenda ran to transportation nominations and five unrelated bills, with no AI or KOSA text attached.

The choreography matters because Cruz is coming off a loss. On July 1, senators killed his reconciliation-vehicle state AI moratorium 99-1, with Ranking Member Maria Cantwell leading the strip. Two weeks later, the industry ask hasn’t moved. The Business Software Alliance filed a letter to Commerce today urging adoption of “a single national AI standard that preempts a patchwork of state laws,” along with risk-based rules and provenance standards.

That framing tracks closely with the Great American AI Act discussion draft from Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan, a frontier-safety bill built around broad state preemption. Lawfare’s analysis warns that GAAIA-style language would invalidate frontier AI laws already on the books in California, New York, and Colorado, and freeze future state action through 2029.

The House isn’t waiting. It passed its own kids’ online safety package (H.R.7757) last month, and Senate and House texts diverge in ways that’ll need conferencing. On the AI side, House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie has already signaled the strategy: “We’re still gonna work it, and hopefully we’re gonna have to have state preemption in the end.”

Two things to watch before July 29: whether any AI text drops with preemption language attached, and whether Cantwell draws a red line early. The 99-1 vote wasn’t ambiguous. Doing the same fight again, this time through regular order, is the tell that industry hasn’t updated its priors.

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