President Donald Trump has announced intentions to issue an executive order focusing on federal regulations for artificial intelligence. He believes that a unified regulatory framework is essential for the U.S. to maintain its lead in AI technology.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump addressed ongoing uncertainty regarding the future of AI regulation. He expressed concern that having different rules across all 50 states could stifle growth and complicate the approval process for companies.
“There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in 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,” he wrote.
“THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS! AI WILL BE DESTROYED IN ITS INFANCY! I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something. THAT WILL NEVER WORK!” he added.
Critics of a single federal guideline raise concerns that it could diminish accountability by curtailing oversight and removing necessary state regulations that address localized issues.
In May, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a bipartisan coalition against a federal prohibition on state-level AI regulations, joined by officials from Colorado, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
“The combined efforts of the states and the federal government have been, at best, barely enough to protect consumers from Big Tech,” Skrmetti remarked.
“AI has incredible potential but amplifies every risk we’ve seen from Big Tech and creates new risks we don’t fully understand. Eliminating state oversight through this reconciliation amendment guarantees Americans will suffer repeated violations of their privacy, consumer protection, and antitrust laws,” he continued.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also criticized Washington’s efforts toward uniform AI regulation, calling it federal overreach.
“Stripping states of jurisdiction to regulate AI is a subsidy to Big Tech and will prevent states from protecting against online censorship of political speech, predatory applications that target children, violations of intellectual property rights and data center intrusions on power/water resources,” DeSantis noted.
On the flip side, supporters of a cohesive federal regulation argue that a fragmented approach would slow innovation. They suggest that varying state standards could weaken the U.S.’s competitiveness in the AI sector, especially against countries like China.
“There are some states that want to regulate these companies within an inch of their lives, and when they make a misstep, fine the heck out of them,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said. “This executive order that [Trump] promised to come out is going to make it clear that there’s one set of rules for AI companies in the U.S.”
Hassett mentioned that Trump had recently reviewed a draft of the executive order concerning AI regulations.
Previously, in January, Trump had announced a $500 billion investment in AI, aimed at launching a new enterprise called Stargate, which is backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The goal is to establish the infrastructure needed for the next wave of AI advancements.
