President Trump signed an executive order to set up a “minimally burdensome” federal policy to govern AI and put limits on the patchwork of state-level regulation that make compliance “more challenging.”
The order argues that myriad state AI laws would hamper innovation, interstate commerce and U.S. competitiveness. This federal policy would preempt state legislation. Leading AI companies have long lobbied for a uniform federal law rather than having to comply with dozens of state laws.
The order directs the U.S. Justice Department to create an ‘AI Litigation Task Force’ to challenge state AI laws, and instructs the U.S. Commerce Department to identify and evaluate state laws that may conflict with the federal policy, including rules directing the AI model to produce false results to protect certain groups as part of an “ideological bias.”
It also links eligibility for certain federal broadband funds to states’ AI regulatory approaches and explores conditioning other discretionary grants. The order tasks federal agencies, including the FCC and FTC, with considering federal reporting standards and clarifying how federal consumer protection law may preempt state AI mandates.
But Axios reported that several states are taking umbrage. “It’s absurd for Trump to think he can weaponize the DOJ and Commerce to undermine those state rights,” said Sen. Scott Wiener (D-CA). “If the Trump Administration tries to enforce this ridiculous order, we will see them in court.”
Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, plans to introduce a bill to repeal the order.
Despite Trump’s order, state AI laws remain enforceable until they are blocked by a court or Congress passes a federal law to preempt them, according to a blog post from the law firm Fisher Phillips.
“The best way to think of the EO (Executive Order) is a directive to Executive Branch officials to kick off a process of federal pressure and litigation against the states, and not a regulatory action in and of itself,” the law firm said.