Trump’s Push to Penalize States with AI Regulations
▼ Summary
– President Trump is considering an executive order to require federal lawsuits against states with AI laws and block their broadband funding.
– The order would establish an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state AI laws on constitutional and preemption grounds.
– It aims to create a minimally burdensome national AI standard, specifically targeting laws from California and Colorado.
– The Secretary of Commerce would evaluate state laws that might compel AI output alterations or violate constitutional rights like the First Amendment.
– This proposal revives a rejected plan by Senator Ted Cruz to exclude states with AI laws from the $42 billion BEAD broadband program.
A potential executive order from the Trump administration aims to establish a uniform national standard for artificial intelligence regulation, challenging state-level AI laws and withholding federal broadband funding from non-compliant states. This initiative seeks to prevent what it describes as a patchwork of conflicting regulations across the country, arguing that divergent state rules create unnecessary burdens for AI developers and stifle innovation.
The proposed order, titled “Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI Policy,” would direct the Attorney General to create a specialized AI Litigation Task Force. This group would have the authority to file lawsuits against states with AI regulations, contesting them on grounds such as unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce or conflicts with existing federal law. The administration’s stated goal is to ensure a consistent, minimally restrictive regulatory environment for AI technology nationwide.
Specific state laws in California and Colorado are explicitly mentioned as targets for evaluation and potential legal action. Furthermore, the Secretary of Commerce would be tasked with identifying additional state regulations that might require AI systems to modify their outputs or force developers to disclose information in ways that could violate constitutional protections, including First Amendment rights.
This approach revives a concept previously advanced by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who had proposed excluding states with AI regulations from the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Despite initially pushing this measure, Senator Cruz ultimately faced overwhelming bipartisan opposition and voted against his own proposal when it failed by a nearly unanimous margin. The current draft executive order appears to incorporate similar mechanisms for leveraging federal broadband funding to influence state AI policy decisions.
(Source: Ars Technica)
