Trump Moves to Strip States of Power Over AI Regulation

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from regulating artificial intelligence, reviving an effort that previously failed in Congress and handing a major win to Silicon Valley firms seeking to avoid strict oversight.

The order also establishes a federal taskforce whose exclusive mission will be to challenge state-level AI laws in court.

At the signing ceremony, Trump said AI companies are eager to “invest” in the United States and argued that state-by-state rules would derail development. “If they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it,” he remarked, adding that the suspension on state authority could remain in place “for a long time.”

Republicans attempted earlier this year to pass a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the Senate voted 99-1 to strike the measure following bipartisan resistance. The new executive order resurrects that effort, now as a presidential directive that does not carry the binding force of federal law but still signals the administration’s intent.

Titled “Ensuring a national policy framework for artificial intelligence,” the order mirrors the arguments made by major AI companies that have opposed stricter state rules. These firms warn of bureaucratic burdens created by diverse state standards, yet neither they nor the administration have advanced a comprehensive federal regulatory framework addressing AI’s social, environmental or political harms. As a result, the only rules governing AI at the federal level remain broadly permissive compared to the safeguards some states have proposed.

Key provisions of the order direct the Department of Justice to establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” focused solely on contesting state laws and to review existing statutes that might “require AI models to alter their truthful outputs.”

Potential targets include California’s safety-testing disclosure rules and Colorado’s requirements for employers to conduct risk assessments to prevent algorithmic discrimination in hiring.

The order has triggered strong backlash from state officials and civil liberties groups, who argue that concentrating more power in federal agencies and tech corporations will expose vulnerable communities, including children, to greater harm from invasive surveillance tools, manipulative chatbots, and opaque automated decision systems.

“There’s nothing about this that protects innovation,” said Teri Olle, vice president of Economic Security California Action. “It’s about handing control of one of the most transformative technologies of our time to big tech CEOs.”

Trump has repeatedly framed state regulation as a threat to AI development and as a gateway, in his view, for “leftist ideology” to seep into generative systems. Speaking at the US-Saudi Investment Forum last month, he insisted that “one woke state” could derail AI growth nationwide, echoing a message he later repeated on Truth Social: “AI WILL BE DESTROYED IN ITS INFANCY!” if states are allowed to impose rules.

The administration has made dominance in AI a central national priority as competition with China accelerates. That push has included forging close ties with tech industry leaders and appointing prominent investors to influential advisory roles. The new order expands the authority of David Sacks, the billionaire venture capitalist serving as special adviser for AI and crypto, requiring him to coordinate with the litigation taskforce on which state laws to target.

Criticism of the order has intensified across political lines. Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, called it “bad policy” that prioritizes the interests of powerful donors over those of the public. She said it exposes deep contradictions within Trump’s own base, which remains highly skeptical of AI.

Opponents warn that the order, if aggressively implemented, could reshape the balance of authority over emerging technologies by stripping states of their ability to protect consumers, workers, and civil rights in the face of rapidly expanding algorithmic power.