U.S. President Donald Trump announced intentions to sign an executive order to curb state-level artificial intelligence laws with an eye toward spurring innovation. In an 8 Dec. Truth Social post, Trump said the order will put into place "ONE RULE" that aims to preempt any state-level "approvals" required to develop and deploy AI technologies.
It's not yet clear whether the order, which Trump said he will sign in the coming days, mirrors a draft order from November seeking similar preemption goals. The leaked draft proposed roles for federal agencies to combat state-level statutes and create new federal rules.
The Department of Justice would launch a task force charged with challenging the constitutionality of state AI laws based on analysis by the Department of Commerce of potentially burdensome legislation. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission would consider promulgating AI model reporting and disclosure standards while the Federal Trade Commission would draft a policy statement outlining how the FTC Act preempts state deception statutes that apply to AI.
"We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that won't last long if we are going to have 50 states, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS," Trump added in his post.
The Trump administration foreshadowed potential limits on state laws in its AI Action Plan released in July. The plan stated, "The Federal government should not allow AI-related Federal funding to be directed toward states with burdensome AI regulations that waste these funds, but should also not interfere with states' rights to pass prudent laws that are not unduly restrictive to innovation."
Attempts by U.S. Congress to bring the White House's sentiments to life through federal law have not panned out, with the proposed executive order representing an alternative path.
A proposed state AI law moratorium was left out of two congressional funding packages — a reconciliation bill in July and the National Defense Authorization Act more recently. While a majority of House Republicans supported a moratorium, bipartisan opposition in the Senate proved too much of a hurdle in negotiations for both packages.
"This body has proven it cannot legislate on emerging technology," Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said during a 1 July floor speech against the moratorium's inclusion. "It is frustrating. We have not passed online privacy. We have not passed the No Fakes Act, the COPIED Act. There are all of these pieces of legislation dealing with AI that we haven't passed, but you know who has passed it? It is our states."
Joe Duball is the news editor for the IAPP.
