President Donald Trump has developed a draft executive order aimed at preventing states from enacting regulatory measures in the field of artificial intelligence, thereby renewing his push for AI deregulation. This initiative is causing serious concern among technology safety advocates, as well as Republican and Democratic state legislators. According to the text of the document, obtained by CNN, the draft instructs the U.S. Attorney General to form a task force to legally challenge state AI laws and counter them by implementing softer federal policies under Trump. This rapidly developing field is already largely outside of any significant oversight, permeating an ever-wider range of aspects of our lives—from personal interaction and relationships to medicine and law enforcement. In the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, individual states have adopted their own laws aimed at curbing potentially dangerous or harmful uses of AI, such as the creation of misleading deepfakes or algorithmic bias in hiring practices. Critics of this preemptive approach fear that the lack of accountability for AI developing companies could lead them to evade responsibility for harm caused to consumers by their tools. When CNN reached out for comment regarding this opposition, a White House representative stated that any discussions of potential executive orders prior to a formal announcement by the administration are purely speculative. The provisions contained in the draft Trump executive order echo the arguments of some in the technology sector, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who claim that confronting a patchwork of state regulations will slow progress and undermine America’s competitive position. The draft executive order states: “The position of the United States is to maintain and strengthen global leadership in the field of AI through a unified, least burdensome national policy regarding artificial intelligence.” Related News OpenAI and Microsoft join AI safety group formed by prosecutors in North Carolina and Utah. OpenAI and Microsoft partner with state law enforcement in AI safety task force Furthermore, on Tuesday, in a post on Truth Social, Trump proposed adding provisions to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would prohibit state-level regulation of AI. Congress has already struck down a previous Republican attempt to limit states’ regulatory powers over AI in July. The U.S. Senate voted almost unanimously to nullify a 10-year moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence that had been inserted into a major Trump domestic policy bill before it was passed. Weeks later, the Trump administration unveiled its Silicon Valley-friendly AI action plan—a set of initiatives and policy guidelines that primarily focused on reducing regulatory burdens to boost U.S. competitiveness. While easing AI regulation may find support in some Silicon Valley circles, the proposal has met with broad opposition amid growing concerns about AI safety in recent months. There have been increasing reports about the risks associated with the technology causing hallucinations or prompting users toward self-harm. Companies like OpenAI and Meta are also actively working to restrict minors’ access to adult material through their AI systems. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the initiative an “overreach by the federal center” in a post on the X platform on Tuesday. “By stripping states of the right to regulate AI, we are effectively subsidizing large tech corporations and preventing states from defending themselves against online censorship of political speech, predatory applications targeting children, copyright infringement, and incursions on energy/water data centers,” he stated. Democratic Senator Ed Markey criticized Republicans for “trying to sneak a ban on AI regulation into the defense bill” and accused Trump in an X post on Wednesday of “standing with his billionaire Big Tech allies.” This renewed attempt at a preemptive ban comes in the context of a dinner Trump hosted this week at the White House for leading business executives, among whom were many key figures from the AI sector, including Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and influential technology, AI, and cryptocurrency investor David Sacks. This week, hundreds of organizations—including tech labor unions, other industry associations, non-profits focused on tech safety and consumer protection, and educational institutions—signed letters to Congress expressing their disagreement with the idea of blocking state-level AI rules and underscoring alarm over associated risks. “This draft executive order has nothing to do with interstate commerce or American competitiveness,” said Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President of Civil Rights and Technology at The Leadership Conference. “It is about allowing billionaires and corporations aligned with the administration to operate without accountability, not about protecting those they are meant to serve.” JB Branch, a specialist on large tech company accountability at the non-profit Public Citizen, noted in a statement that “AI fraud is skyrocketing, children are dying by suicide due to harmful online systems, and psychologists are sounding the alarm about AI-induced disorders,” and that blocking state regulation could “shield Silicon Valley from liability.”
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