The White House on Friday published a long-awaited policy wishlist for artificial intelligence regulation that it hopes Congress will codify into law.
The light-touch federal framework blends the Trump administration’s effort to create a national AI rulebook on issues like political bias within models and reducing barriers to innovation with protections for children and teens online.
It urges Congress to overrule state AI laws that the administration says “impose undue burdens,” in favor of the “minimally burdensome” federal law that it’s recommending. The Trump administration has been trying to establish preemption over state AI laws using Congress and executive order for roughly a year, arguing that the patchwork of laws harms AI innovation.
The blueprint explicitly calls on Congress to preempt any state laws that regulate the way models are developed or that penalize companies for the way their AI is used by others, and instructs U.S. lawmakers not to create any new federal agencies to regulate AI.
It also outlines some areas where the federal government’s laws wouldn’t overrule those of the states, and asks Congress to allow states to keep laws that protect children, including those that ban AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Trump administration officials have sought to gather support from Republican lawmakers for a light-touch approach to AI regulation in recent months. It’s unlikely, however, to receive bipartisan support in Congress.
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