Vikram Venkatram, Mina Narayanan, and Jessica Ji
The Trump administration has released an executive order (EO) aiming to preempt states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). The order challenges the constitutionality of states’ AI laws, withholds federal funds from states deemed to have onerous AI regulatory regimes, facilitates the drafting of national AI standards, and directs the creation of a federal AI policy framework that could eventually become law. It could chill state AI regulatory activity while simultaneously provoking an onslaught of legal challenges from states and intense bipartisan backlash, dimming the prospect of turning a preemptive national policy framework into federal law.
The move comes as states develop legislation to address AI risks salient for many voters: child safety, mental health, labor and economic concerns, and energy demands, to name a few. At least twice, policymakers have tried and failed to enact a moratorium that would condition states’ access to federal funds on not enforcing AI legislation (or bar states from enforcing AI laws through other means) for a predetermined number of years. The new executive order goes even further by directing a task force to challenge state AI laws and to facilitate the creation of a national AI framework. The EO appears to be the administration’s attempt to overcome strong opposition from stakeholders across party lines to preempting state AI legislation—opposition that appears to reflect shared prioritization of and demand for AI governance.
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