New U.S. Bill Seeks to Rein In Offshored AI Contact-Center Support
Legislation recently introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, dubbed the Keep Call Centers In America Act of 2025, aims to curb the growing practice of offshoring customer service operations—including those powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—and enforce stricter oversight over the contact center industry. Brought forward with bipartisan support, these twin bills reflect mounting concern over domestic job displacement, customer service quality, and the unchecked use of automated agents.
The proposed legislation targets U.S. companies with more than 50 employees that intend to offshore a significant portion of their customer support operations—defined in the bill as at least 30%—or plan to relocate an entire contact center outside of the United States. Under the terms of the act, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Secretary would be responsible for maintaining a publicly accessible registry detailing such companies. Those that appear on this list would face severe consequences, including disqualification from federal contracts and the withdrawal of federal grant eligibility.
Moreover, the bill grants consumers the explicit right to request interaction with a U.S.-based customer service agent, regardless of whether they initially engage with an offshore employee or an AI-operated system. Noncompliance could result in civil penalties up to $10,000 per day. In cases where companies already hold federal grants or loans, the cost of noncompliance would escalate substantially, potentially reaching 8.3% of the total award on a monthly basis.
Despite these stringent measures, contact centers would receive a one-year grace period upon the legislation’s enactment to restructure operations and comply with its requirements. However, industry leaders are warning that even with this buffer, the financial and logistical burden could be overwhelming.
Mark Rohan, chief operating officer of Klearcom—a company based in Waterford, Ireland that specializes in testing interactive voice response and AI systems—warns that the administrative costs of compliance would be “astronomical.” He further asserts that enforcing such sweeping regulations across the industry would be virtually impossible. While he and other experts recognize that the bill’s principles align with established best practices—such as quickly escalating calls that frustrate AI systems to human agents—they argue that putting these ideals into practice as written could result in major disruptions for many businesses.
Analysts also caution that the legislation may produce unintended consequences for AI adoption in customer service. Ian Jacobs, vice president and lead analyst at Opus Research, suggests that forced reliance on domestic human agents could dampen innovation in generative AI; companies might retreat toward simpler, backend AI assist tools that support human agents rather than pursuing full AI agent deployment. Conversely, he warns that the law may inadvertently accelerate the roll-out of AI agents that are not fully mature.
Jacobs further highlights the structural limitations facing the industry. “There aren’t enough U.S.-based contact center agents to handle all of the demand,” he notes. “This is akin to a tax on customer care,” he says, drawing a parallel to the impact of tariffs on goods. Lower-wage offshore agents currently absorb much of the overnight and unsocial-hour call volumes—services that may become untenable or severely limited under the law.
Evidence indicates that, prior to these bills, use of offshore contact centers remained widespread across multiple industries. Gartner estimates that 78% of telecommunications firms, 72% of financial services companies, 65% of healthcare organizations, 61% of retailers, and 58% of technology companies outsource at least portions of their customer service operations. The costs of replacing these offshore operations with domestic alternatives could multiply existing customer service expenditures several times over.
In the financial services sector in particular, where customer service operations already operate under heavy regulatory scrutiny, the effect could be especially profound. Josh Lewis, an attorney with Bradley law firm, notes that such institutions would need to revamp their contact center infrastructure within the United States and also re-think their AI strategies.
Some companies—particularly large multinational banks—may end up running dual systems: one compliant version for U.S. operations and a more cost-efficient model for regions where offshoring remains permissible. This bifurcation risks delivering inconsistent customer experiences across markets, with American consumers possibly receiving slower or less effective support—and paying a premium for it.
As these bills progress through Congress, customer service and contact center executives should closely monitor developments. The proposed legislation promises to reshape the industry, potentially redefining the balance between human agents and AI, and rewriting the economics of outsourcing versus domestic operations.
Don Fluckinger is a senior news writer at Informa TechTarget, specializing in customer experience, digital experience management, and end-user computing. For further coverage or to share tips, he can be reached via email.
