Can CA protect its AI regulations from Trump’s executive order?

This year, California lawmakers passed several measures regulating artificial intelligence. But President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are renewing efforts to block states from regulating the technology — potentially reversing those recent laws and sparking outrage from California officials.

The Trump administration last week released a draft executive order calling for a task force “whose sole responsibility” is to challenge state AI laws. Citing recent legislation passed by California and Colorado, the proposed order says the current regulatory framework allows “the most restrictive states to dictate national AI policy.” States found to be in violation of the order will have their federal funding withheld.

The project took off when Trump took it on social media to decry state “overregulation” of AI and advocate for “one federal standard.”

Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress are considering a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual military funding legislation, that would prevent state power from regulating AI. The offer prompted more than 200 state legislatorsincluding six Democrats from California, to burn a letter Monday opposes the idea.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta also urged congressional leaders to reject the proposed wording, arguing that the preemption would undermine states’ ability to respond “quickly and effectively to emerging technologies” and allow AI companies to “evade the protections of sound state law.” Thirty-two of the world’s 50 largest AI companies are located in California, according to Bonta’s office.

• The letter: “Any federal AI law should serve as a threshold, not a ceiling, preserving flexibility for states to go further when necessary to protect their residents.”

The proposed executive order and bill wording are the latest in a series of federal moves to bar states from regulating AI after a failed effort earlier this year. In May, U.S. House Republicans proposed legislation that would have imposed a 10-year ban for states to enforce their AI lawsputting at risk 20 California state laws passed in 2024 US Senate ultimately rejected this measure in July after Democrats and a handful of state-rights Republicans denounced the bill.

California regulators next month will vote on a proposal to reduce the payout shareholders can receive from three major energy companies – a potential solution critics say won’t do enough to lower utility bills for millions of Californians, writes Malena Carollo of CalMatters.

Known as “return on equity,” this built-in expense in utility bills goes to shareholders for the risk of investing in utility companies. The California Public Utilities Commission is responsible for setting the state’s rate of return and is proposing to reduce that rate by 0.35% each for Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.

If approved, profit margins for all three companies would shrink and shareholders would see a potential return next year of just under 10%. But critics also say that while the change could save millions of dollars for ratepayers across the state, it won’t mean much to people.

Read more here.

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