Trump Pushes Back On ‘Excessive’ AI Regulations, Blocks State Overreach

President Donald Trump took action on Thursday to limit state-level regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) and create a new national framework, saying that the United States was in a race with China to develop the best technology. 

Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to challenge “onerous and excessive” AI regulations issued by states. The order also directed his administration to begin developing a national framework for AI. 

“One of the things it has is you have to have a central source of approval. When they need approval of things, you have to come to one source; they can’t go to California, New York, and various other places,” Trump said as he signed the executive order. 

“To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation. But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative,” the executive order said. “State-by-State regulation by definition creates a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes that makes compliance more challenging, particularly for start-ups.”

The order added that the Trump administration was concerned about states’ embedding ideological bias into their models and unconstitutionally regulating interstate commerce. 

“My Administration must act with the Congress to ensure that there is a minimally burdensome national standard — not 50 discordant State ones. The resulting framework must forbid State laws that conflict with the policy set forth in this order,” the order added. “That framework should also ensure that children are protected, censorship is prevented, copyrights are respected, and communities are safeguarded.”

The order establishes an AI litigation task force to challenge state laws deemed overly burdensome, directs Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to evaluate all state AI laws, and proposes restrictions on federal funding if states enact certain policies. 

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More than 1,000 bills have been introduced in state legislatures addressing AI, which the Trump administration said could disrupt the race with China for technological development.  

The signing of the executive order was attended by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, AI and crypto czar David Sacks, and Lutnick. Sacks noted that the Trump administration would not push back against states that have passed laws protecting child safety. 

Trump signed an executive order last month creating a “national effort” to integrate AI into research and accelerate innovation and scientific discovery. The initiative, known as the “Genesis Mission,” focuses on developing an AI model to accelerate scientific discovery.