Trump calls for federal AI standards, end to state ‘patchwork’ regulations ‘threatening’ economic growth
President Donald Trump has demanded an end to excessive state-level regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and warned that state rules will end up threatening the U.S. economy.
In a post shared to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump also slammed ‘Woke AI’ and referred to a ‘patchwork’ of state regulations in the AI space.
‘Investment in AI is helping to make the U.S. Economy the ‘HOTTEST’ in the World,’ Trump wrote.
‘But overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Major Growth Engine. Some States are even trying to embed DEI ideology into AI models, producing ‘Woke AI’ (Remember Black George Washington?). We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.’
Trump made his comments as House Republican leaders signaled they may try to include AI preemption language in the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
This would block states from bringing in their own AI rules and protections.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Monday that GOP leaders are considering the measure to prevent what he called ‘regulatory chaos’ as states advance their own rules.
Trump’s push for a unified national framework is in line with his broader ‘Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan.’
Under executive orders issued in July, federal agencies must avoid procuring AI systems that ‘sacrifice truthfulness and accuracy to ideological agendas,’ adhere to ‘Unbiased AI Principles’ and support the fight against AI-generated deepfakes through the ‘Take It Down Act.’
Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s stance at February’s Artificial Intelligence Action Summit.
‘We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off,’ Vance said.
Not all Republicans are on board. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a post to X Tuesday and warned that overriding state authority would serve as a ‘subsidy to Big Tech’ and ‘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.’
Trump’s Truth Social post also came after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed during Tuesday’s visit to the White House to increasing his planned investment in the U.S. economy to nearly $1 trillion over the next year.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., raised concerns Tuesday about the government’s potential use of taxpayer funds to support OpenAI and other AI firms.
‘OpenAI’s actions suggest that it may be pursuing a deliberate strategy to entangle itself with the federal government and the broader economy, so the government has no choice but to step in with public funds,’ she said in a letter.
‘We have seen this before: take on enough debt, make enough risky bets, and then demand a taxpayer bailout when those bets go south, so the economy does not crash.’