The Trump administration is looking to draft an order that would allow the Department of Justice to sue states that pass laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence, according to reports.
Such a law would direct DOJ officials to challenge state laws that it deems could interfere with interstate commerce, according to a copy of the order proposal, reviewed by The Washington Post and confirmed to the outlet by a source.
Along with tech lobbyists, the administration is also attempting to persuade lawmakers to insert the provisions, which hold companies accountable for harms caused by AI, into must-pass defense legislation.
So far, twelve states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginiaand Washington — have enacted legislation to ensure that those developing and deploying AI systems are complying with the rules and standards governing AI systems, according to the Council of State Governments.
The White House declined to comment on reports of the draft executive order. The Independent has contacted the administration’s “AI Czar,” David Sacks, for comment.
It comes almost six months after a similar bill was crushed by the Senate. On July 1, Senators voted 99 to 1 to strip a provision freezing state regulations of AI out of a tax and immigration bill.
Trump and his allies are fans of AI, even if it is often used to create memes and videos – some of which openly mock their opponents. The president recently shared an AI-generated video of him playing football with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in the Oval Office.
A more vulgar video, shared last month, featured Trump in a jet plane dropping excrement onto the heads of protestors marching in the “No Kings” demonstrations, against the president’s perceived authoritarian policies.
Tech giants have argued that state regulations on AI are slowing progress in the competition with Chinese competitors.
Echoing the sentiments in a Truth Social post earlier this week, Trump claimed that “overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Major Growth ‘Engine.’” “We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes. If we don’t, then China will easily catch us in the AI race,” the president wrote.
Meanwhile, billionaire GOP donors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have reportedly been urging Republicans to force language seeking to prevent AI regulation in the unrelated defense bill, according to Bloomberg.
Such moves have caused division between pro-Silicon Valley lawmakers and MAGA acolytes, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has recently, and surprisingly, emerged as a sharp critic of the president and his allies.
“States must retain the right to regulate and make laws on AI and anything else for the benefit of their state,” Greene said in a social media post Thursday. “Federalism must be preserved.”
Experts also told the Post that Trump’s executive order directing the DOJ to sue states may not be constitutional.
“Preemption is a question for Congress, which they have considered and rejected, and should continue to reject,” Hall told the outlet. “This proposal is shocking in its disregard for the democratic processes of state governments in their work to address the real and documented harms arising from AI tools.”
