Washington DC [US], December 12 (ANI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a broad Executive Order intended to prevent a “patchwork” of state-level artificial intelligence rules, saying inconsistent laws threaten American innovation and the country’s competitiveness in emerging technologies.
The White House fact sheet described the order as a measure to protect AI developers from conflicting and burdensome state laws and to create a path toward a single national framework for AI development and deployment.
Among its provisions, the order directs the U.S. Attorney General to create an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state laws the administration deems unconstitutional, preempted, or otherwise harmful to innovation. The Secretary of Commerce is instructed to review state AI laws that appear to conflict with federal priorities; states identified as having conflicting regulations could face withholding of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds.
The fact sheet said other federal agencies will consider whether the absence of comparable state laws, or a policy of enforcement discretion, should be a prerequisite for eligibility in certain discretionary grant programs.
The order asks the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission to examine whether some state requirements — for example, mandates that would force companies to alter model outputs for diversity, equity, and inclusion reasons — could compel practices that violate federal law. Agencies will also explore whether to adopt a federal reporting and disclosure standard for AI systems.
The White House said the new directive moves the administration toward proposing national legislation that would preempt state regulations it views as restrictive or harmful to innovation. Officials noted that more than 1,000 state-level AI bills have been introduced across the country, creating what they called a chaotic regulatory environment.
The fact sheet singled out states including California and Colorado, saying some proposals would require AI companies to censor outputs or to make ideological changes to systems, and argued that the most restrictive states should not set national AI policy.
Trump echoed that position, saying: “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 order builds on prior administration actions, including a July 2025 directive barring federal agencies from using AI systems said to contain “ideological biases,” and the Take It Down Act signed earlier this year to address deepfake exploitation of minors. The White House said Thursday’s directive advances the administration’s July 2025 AI Action Plan, which called for removing regulatory barriers to maintain U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.
(ANI) (This content is from a syndicated feed and was published as received.)
