US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at banning individual states from regulating AI in a move one expert said could create a “regulatory vacuum” in the country.
In a move welcomed by a host of AI companies, Trump said he plans to create a federal AI Litigation Task Force responsible for challenging states’ AI laws.
"State-by-state regulation, by definition, creates a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes that makes compliance more challenging, particularly for start-ups. Second, state laws are increasingly responsible for requiring entities to embed ideological bias within models," he said.
"My administration must act with the Congress to ensure that there is a minimally burdensome national standard — not 50 discordant state ones."
The order also calls for the Secretary of Commerce to publish an evaluation of state AI laws that conflict with national AI policy priorities - and withhold non-deployment Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding from any offenders.
Trump is of course keen to encourage AI firms to invest in the US - something he believes state-by-state regulation will hamper.
States including Colorado and New York have already passed laws regulating AI, with California set to require the biggest AI firms to publish plans for limiting the risks.
The move has been welcomed by the National Association of Manufacturers.
"As the president demonstrates his commitment to both advancing American technological dominance and bolstering investment in manufacturing, he is rightly recognizing that winning the global race for AI hinges on getting AI policy right, which means avoiding a cumbersome 50-state patchwork of laws and regulations that would throttle interstate commerce, stifle innovation, limit AI adoption and erode America’s competitive edge," said president and CEO Jay Timmons.
However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) begs to differ.
"Although AI might bring substantial benefits, it also carries substantial risks, and America will not win the AI ‘race’ if the AI used by the government, employers, schools, and health care providers is hallucinatory, unreliable, and dangerous," said And, said ACLU senior policy counsel Cody Venzke.
The executive order doesn't allow for a complete free-for-all, with states still allowed to introduce AI regulations aimed at protecting children, addressing concerns around data centers, and governing states' own procurement and use of AI.
However, California governor Gavin Newsom said the plan is self-serving and will endanger the public.
"Today, President Trump continued his ongoing grift in the White House, attempting to enrich himself and his associates," he said. "President Trump and Davis Sacks aren’t making policy — they’re running a con. And every day, they push the limits to see how far they can take it."
Move could create a “regulatory vacuum”
Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at ImmuniWeb, said the executive order and subsequent disruption to state-level efforts to regulate the technology could risk leaving the country in a “regulatory vacuum”.
“While President Trump's Executive Order may prevent some US states from enacting or enforcing complex and sometimes contradicting AI state laws and regulations – thereby considerably simplifying business for tech companies in America – it might also have a possible drawback by leaving America in a regulatory vacuum,” Kolochenko commented.
Enterprises operating on both sides of the Atlantic already face a fractured regulatory landscape. The EU, for example, has taken a far more robust approach to legislation, marking a contrast to the US' approach.
Enforcement of the order may prove tricky, and attempts are already underway to push back against limitations to state-level regulation. A first shot at limiting state AI laws has been defeated in a landslide 99-1 vote in the Senate.
Similarly, some Democratic lawmakers have said they are planning legislative action against the White House.
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