Trump signs AI executive order pushing to ban state laws

Thursday evening, with AI in the White House and cryptocurrency czar David Sachs He looks over his shoulderDonald Trump He signed an executive order With the aim of unilaterally seizing power over AI regulation for the federal government. The command It can’t on its own get around state AI lawsBut it directs federal agencies to take steps to reduce or eliminate their influence, and to discourage states from passing laws that the federal government might challenge, or jeopardize critical funding for other programs.

He specifically calls out Colorado The Consumer Protection Law was recently issuedclaiming that “prohibiting ‘algorithmic discrimination’ could force AI models to produce false results in order to avoid ‘preferential treatment or impact’ on protected groups.”

The final ranking is pretty much the same The same draft version we obtained and reported on last month. It directs the establishment of an “AI Litigation Task Force,” directed by the Attorney General, to sue states over any AI laws it deems inconsistent with the goal of “maintaining and enhancing U.S. global dominance in AI through a minimally burdensome national policy framework.”

The FTC has been directed to issue a policy statement explaining “the circumstances under which state laws requiring modifications to the true outputs of artificial intelligence models are precluded by the FTC’s prohibition against engaging in deceptive acts or practices affecting commerce.”

It also directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, within the next 90 days, to issue a report on states with laws deemed to be in conflict with the order, and to identify states that may become ineligible for rural broadband funding from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Meanwhile, FCC Chairman Brandon Carr has been tasked with working on measures to “adopt a federal standard for reporting and disclosure for AI models that preempts conflicting state laws.”

Section 8 of the order contains a notable and vague carve-out, claiming that its recommendations do not propose to preempt “statutory state AI laws” covering child safety, the construction of AI computing and data infrastructure, the use of AI by state governments, and “other topics as will be specified.”

In the past year alone, a growing pile of bills introduced and laws passed by state governments across the country have attempted to place barriers to artificial intelligence — a patchwork of laws, as Trump put it, that The AI ​​industry claims that it makes it extremely difficult to operate and innovate. Ideally, Congress would deal with this confusing mix by passing AI regulations at the federal level, which would automatically preempt or override any conflicting state laws.

However, their approach has proven controversial. Given the slow pace of Congress and the speed they need to pursue innovation, the AI ​​industry and its political allies have instead sought to impose a ban, or moratorium, on states writing or enforcing their own AI laws. Last year alone, Congress twice tried to pass the moratorium, but failed both times – the first time last year The controversy over Trump’s big, beautiful billWhere he ended up dying in the Senate, and after that Failed during negotiations over the National Defense Authorization Actwhich determines annual defense spending.

But although Congress’s attempts to freeze the sanctions have drawn criticism, they would have been constitutional if they had been signed. But the White House is wading into murky territory. Several weeks ago, a draft executive order was leaked outlining how the Trump administration would handle a preemptive strike: Instead of trying to put guardrails on AI, it would instead… Trying to punish states with “onerous” laws goes against what the White House wants.

Policy observers and political insiders indicated that the draft order would be so He handed over an enormous amount of power to billionaire venture capitalist David Sachswho serves as the White House’s chief AI and cryptocurrency officer, cutting out important federal agencies and offices that would normally be involved in setting technology policy. Although technically a temporary government employee, Sachs acts as a direct conduit between the president and the Silicon Valley elite, and has gained an enormous amount of influence over Trump’s tech policy — so much so that Trump’s pronouncements on artificial intelligence, H1B visas, and chip sales It terrified the MAGA base.

But in the past few weeks, Trump has begun signaling his willingness to sign an executive order that would override state laws. On Monday, he stated on Truth Social that the order would, in theory, create “just one rule book” so that AI companies wouldn’t have to follow “50 states, many of them bad actors, involved in the rules and approval process. There can be no doubt about this! AI will be destroyed in its infancy!”