President Donald Trump is considering signing an executive order as early as Friday that would give the federal government unilateral authority to regulate artificial intelligence, including creating an “AI Litigation Task Force” overseen by the attorney general “whose sole responsibility would be to challenge state AI laws.”
According to the draft order received Edge, The task force will be able to sue states whose laws are seen as hindering the growth of the AI industry, citing California's recent AI safety and “catastrophic risk” laws and Colorado's law that prevents “algorithmic discrimination.” The task force will consult from time to time with a group of White House special advisers, including David Sachs, a billionaire venture capitalist and special adviser on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
Trump has repeatedly said in recent days that he wants to impose a government moratorium on artificial intelligence legislation and reiterated that on Wednesday. during his speech at the US-Saudi Investment Forumpresenting it as a way to combat “woke” ideology. “You can't go through 50 states. You have to get one approval. Fifty is a disaster. Because you'll have one woke state and you'll have to do all the woke ones. You'll be back in the woke business. We don't have any more woke ones in this country. It's practically illegal. You'll have a couple woke ones.”
As part of the AI Action Plan published earlier this yearTrump has directed several federal agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, to explore ways to circumvent “burdensome” state and local regulations to promote industry growth and innovation. The full executive order lays out a 90-day roadmap for several key agencies to implement the plan along with the Department of Justice: the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Communications Commission.
Within 90 days of signing the executive order, the Secretary of Commerce will be directed to issue a report identifying which states are violating Trump's AI policy directives and to conduct a study of which states may be disqualified from participating in the Broadband Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which funds rural broadband access in several states. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission will be tasked with issuing a statement on whether states requiring artificial intelligence companies to change their algorithms would be violating laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices.
During appearance on PoliticianAI & Tech Summit in SeptemberFCC Commissioner Brendan Carr suggested one possible interpretation of the Communications Act that would allow them to circumvent state law. “In fact, if state or local law actually prohibits the deployment of this 'modern infrastructure,' then the FCC has the authority to intervene,” he said. PoliticianThis is Alex Burns.
Carr also raised the possibility that the FCC's regulatory powers could overturn a potential new law in California that would require artificial intelligence companies to disclose their security testing models, saying that would achieve Trump's goal of blocking “woke AI” containing ideological biases.
He quoted European Union Digital Security Act and expressed his concern: “Their AI models will not be truth-seeking AI models, but they will be AI models that will promote DEI. And so President Trump, as part of his action plan, has again taken steps to ensure that we don't have the type of AI-embedded AI models that are being developed here. When it comes to California, again, I'm not entirely familiar with the full complexity of this, but to the extent that they are moving in that direction and away from the truth. search, this could be a problem.”
The idea that the FCC should have veto power over state artificial intelligence laws, as well as other parts of Trump's order, could easily be challenged in court. But moves like creating a litigation task force could still create hurdles for states regulating AI.
Punchbowl News reported on Wednesday that the executive order is the White House's backup plan in the event Congress fails to pass a moratorium on state artificial intelligence legislation, this time through the upcoming reauthorization of the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that absolutely must pass in order for the government to fund its national security apparatus.
Earlier this year, Congress tried to impose a moratorium on Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, which would set out the costs of his second-term agenda, but failed after a bipartisan group of senators spoke out against the legislation. Earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Punchbowl News that Congress is considering reintroducing the moratorium by attaching it to the NDAA.
But as with the fight for the Big Beautiful Bill, the moratorium hidden in the NDAA could face resistance, especially if the penalty is the same: cutting off funding for rural broadband. “The real question is what size grant would it take to pressure state legislators to change their AI rules?” Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, who initiated the AI moratorium concept, said Edge. “This came up during the previous moratorium fight, and some people were worried that California would simply ignore the budget threats posed by BEAD. It might take several budget repeals or restrictions to really put pressure on a state as large as California.”
