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President Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at restricting states from crafting their own regulations for artificial intelligence, saying the burgeoning industry is at risk of being stifled by a patchwork of onerous rules while in a battle with Chinese competitors for supremacy.
Members of Congress from both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight for the powerful technology.
But Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations race to dominate artificial intelligence, and China’s central government gives its companies a single place to go for government approvals.
“We have the big investment coming, but if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you can forget it because it’s impossible to do,” the president said.
The executive order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to create a new task force to challenge state laws, and directs the Department of Commerce to draw up a list of problematic regulations. It also threatens to restrict funding from a broadband deployment program and other grant programs to states with AI laws.
David Sacks, a venture capitalist who is leading Mr. Trump’s policies on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, said Thursday the Trump administration would only push back on “the most onerous examples of state regulation” but would not oppose “kid safety” measures.
Four states — Colorado, California, Utah and Texas — have passed laws that set some rules for AI across the private sector, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Those laws include limiting the collection of certain personal information and requiring more transparency from companies.
The laws are in response to AI that already pervades everyday life. The technology helps make consequential decisions for Americans, including who gets a job interview, an apartment lease, a home loan and even certain medical care. But research has shown that it can make mistakes in those decisions, including by prioritizing a particular gender or race.
States’ more ambitious AI regulation proposals require private companies to provide transparency and assess the possible risks of discrimination from their AI programs.
Beyond those more sweeping rules, many states have regulated parts of AI: barring the use of deepfakes in elections and to create nonconsensual porn, for example, or putting rules in place around the government’s own use of AI.
Those who support regulations that would prevent states from restricting AI — including some GOP lawmakers and advocates like Sacks — argue that forcing tech companies to contend with varied or even contradictory rules would hurt the industry.
“At best, we’ll end up with 50 different AI models for 50 different states – a regulatory morass worse than Europe,” Sacks wrote on X earlier this week. “This will stymie innovation, especially by small startups who can’t afford the compliance burden. Meanwhile, China will race ahead.”
But members of both parties have pushed back. Last month, when congressional Republicans weighed adding restrictions on state AI regulations to a defense bill, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called the idea a “subsidy to Big Tech.”
“The rise of AI is the most significant economic and cultural shift occurring at the moment; denying the people the ability to channel these technologies in a productive way via self-government constitutes federal government overreach and lets technology companies run wild,” the governor wrote.
Earlier this week, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts called Mr. Trump’s plan to restrict AI regulations via an executive order an “early Christmas present for his CEO billionaire buddies.”
