Report from Politico
In Brief – The Trump Administration is exploring an executive order that aims to override restrictive state AI laws, although its release before Thanksgiving was abandoned due to pushback that included prominent state-level Republican officials. A draft called for creating a “minimally burdensome” national AI regulatory framework and directs federal agencies to challenge state regulations that conflict with federal AI goals. The initiative reinforces President Trump’s public support for a national AI strategy and standards developed with AI industry leaders and efforts to attach a moratorium on state laws to the summer’s major budget bill and more recently to the defense bill. The order would instruct the Department of Justice to establish an AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days to contest state AI laws, potentially arguing that they violate federal authority over interstate commerce. Multiple agencies, including the FCC and FTC, would be required to assess conflicting state rules and issue policy responses within 90 days.
Context – The CEO of AI giant Nvidia recently warned that “China is going to win the AI race” and blamed regulation, especially by US states, and energy costs. The second Trump Administration, with its far bigger cohort of tech backers than the first, has pushed US AI policy firmly in the direction of deregulation and investment. The UK and Japan have also moved in that direction, and the EU, home of the AI Act, appears desperate to grow a local AI industry that can join the competition and is considering dialing back some regulation. But US states are drifting in the other direction, with targeted AI bills being passed in many and considered in more, leading to an industry pushback, especially focused on California. A five-year moratorium on state AI laws, backed by the Trump Administration, was part of the big Republican budget reconciliation bill this summer, but was pulled after a handful of GOP Senators objected, dooming the effort absent some Democratic backing given the very narrow Republican margins in Congress.