Trump pushes back against states regulating AI with executive order – News

President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that will limit the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence while attempting to address state AI laws already in place.

“To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order says. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.”

In order to achieve AI superiority over China, the White House contends that one federal regulatory framework should replace individual state laws. In terms of compliance, what Trump (pictured) called “a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes” will make it difficult for startups. He also believes that giving states the power to regulate AI could create “ideological bias within models” that favor certain groups – what Trump has previously referred to as “woke AI.”

“My Administration must act with the Congress to ensure that there is a minimally burdensome national standard — not 50 discordant State ones,” the order said. “The resulting framework must forbid State laws that conflict with the policy set forth in this order. That framework should also ensure that children are protected, censorship is prevented, copyrights are respected, and communities are safeguarded.”

As the order was signed in the Oval Office, Trump was flanked by AI and crypto czar David Sacks and tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya, a former senior executive in the early days of Facebook Inc. They were joined by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

“It’s a race, and if China wins the race, whoever wins, the values of that country will affect all of AI,” Cruz said. “We don’t want China’s values of surveillance and centralized control by the communist government governing AI. We want American values of free speech, of individual liberty, of respecting the individual. So this executive order, I believe, is tremendously important.”

Sacks explained that child safety regulations will remain in place, but the order will “push back” on what he called “the most onerous examples of state regulations.”

The move will be seen as a major win for leading AI firms and investors who have spent months lobbying against tighter regulation. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has been outspoken against what he calls AI “doomers,” arguing that the U.S. must shed regulatory restraints if it hopes to lead the global AI race.

Under the order, Attorney General Pam Bondi is instructed to form an “AI Litigation Task Force” within 30 days, whose sole mandate is to contest state-level AI regulations that run counter to the Trump administration’s policy framework. States that transgress could find themselves facing funding restrictions.

The order will likely be challenged in court by states. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all 50 states and U.S. territories introduced AI legislation this year, and 38 states enacted about 100 new laws.

“President Trump and Davis Sacks aren’t making policy – they’re running a con,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom, a proponent of state regulation. “And every day, they push the limits to see how far they can take it. California is working on behalf of Americans by building the strongest innovation economy in the nation while implementing commonsense safeguards and leading the way forward.”

Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr