Trump administration wants to claw back state AI laws

When it comes to AI regulation, the Trump administration has decided that having one cook in the kitchen is better than 50.

In December, the Trump administration issued an executive order seemingly sidelining states’ AI laws in favor of a national policy framework. In the order, the administration argued that “excessive” state regulation “thwarts” innovation, and alleges that state laws are increasingly responsible for “requiring entities to embed ideological bias with [AI] models.”

What it means for IT. Jonathan Walter, a senior policy counsel with The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, cautioned against companies disobeying existing state laws, regardless of the executive order.

“I don’t think this executive order has any substantive impact on companies building or using AI; they should still be expected to follow state and local AI laws,” Walter said. “They have a legal obligation to do so in the states they operate in.”

In the meantime, Walker expects states to continue to enforce AI laws on their books. “This is where the administration landed after multiple failed attempts to try and get a moratorium passed into law through Congress,” he added.

Straight from an AI company. Dhruv Patel, the CEO and co-founder of Syncurrent, an AI platform provider for small governments, including municipal and county governments as well as Tribal Nations, said his company continues to adhere to the laws in its home state of Michigan.

“Our responsibility is to the 90,000 units of local government across the country, and if the state were to do something like that [implementing burdensome regulations], we wouldn’t limit development,” Patel said. “We also wouldn’t break the law or any rules put on us; we would advocate.”

Patel advised other AI companies to “stay in the good” and to educate themselves “holistically” on matters such as which states are more restrictive when it comes to AI policy.

“AI is one of the most powerful technologies that we’re entering into, and there will continue to be a tremendous need of professionals in the space across development, cybersecurity, [infrastructure], all of it,” Patel said. “I encourage for people not to get scared because there’s no reason to as long as you educate yourself.”