US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) signed an executive order establishing a single national framework for artificial intelligence (AI) companies, overriding state-level regulations that the administration described as “onerous”.
The White House AI and crypto czar, David O. Sacks, stated that this order equips AI companies with tools to challenge restrictive state regulations.
"We want to have one central source of approval," Trump told reporters, flanked by top advisers, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as per a Reuters report.
The Trump administration has long pushed for a single national regulation to prevent Democratic-controlled states, such as New York and California, from shaping the industry with their own sets of laws.
The latest move comes as AI firms expand near the US Capitol and launch a political super PAC, ‘Leading the Future,’ backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Joe Lonsdale, Ron Conway and others, with plans to spend about $100 million in the 2026 midterm elections.
Are US states introducing separate laws on AI?
Yes, several states have introduced AI bills. California and Colorado, both under Democratic leadership, have proposed bills that call for risk assessments and other disclosures related to the AI industry. New York passed the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, which awaits Governor Kathy Hochul's signature. The Act mandates safety protocols for frontier AI models.
Companies like Andreessen Horowitz, Google, and OpenAI have been lobbying against state regulations on AI, arguing that disparate regulations across the US regarding AI will be detrimental to the country's competitiveness in the global AI race.
‘Leading the Future’ has already targeted the New York State Assembly member Alex Bores, who co-sponsored the RAISE Act. The PAC called the legislation “ideological and politically motivated", warning it would “handcuff” US competitiveness.
What did Trump earlier say on AI regulations?
On Truth Social, Trump argued that "Investment in AI is helping to make the U.S. Economy the "HOTTEST" in the World," adding, "But overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Growth Engine. Some States are even trying to embed DEI ideology into Al models, producing "Woke Al" (Remember Black George Washington?). We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes. We can do this in a way that protects children AND prevents censorship!"
