President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at stopping states from regulating AI, an idea that has drawn much opposition from members of his base.
The order did not come out of nowhere. emptyCertainly. MAGA Republicans and Silicon Valley leaders have been vying for influence over the White House on technology policy for some time. Washington Post reported on Sunday.
Trump's tech advisers appear to be winning.
Let's go back a few months: Over the summer, the Senate rejected a bill that would have imposed a 10-year moratorium on state AI laws. Then when draft version Because of the newly signed executive order, which was leaked last month, many Republicans who traditionally support states' rights tried to block the president from moving forward with it.
Members of the Republican Party, including Representative of Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene condemned the idea, writing on X that “states must retain the right to regulate and legislate on AI and everything else for the benefit of their state. Federalism must be preserved.”
Conservative groups, members of Congress and governors have reportedly contacted the White House to also raise alarm about the project.
Mail spoke with more than a dozen people familiar with the administration's AI policy and White House officials and concluded that the moment was emblematic of a broader struggle between Trump's base and his tech advisers and industry leaders who used their money and influence to help bring him to power.
“It feels like millions of votes across the country have just been exchanged for thousands of votes. [venture capitalist] and tech-rich regional votes, Republicans will never win,” one source said.
Compromises were made on the bill to win over Republicans and silence critics. Mail Trump reportedly signed the order this week.
But the tension between what big tech companies and the populist president's supporters want is unlikely to go away overnight. And how midterm elections are getting closer and closer cracks appearing among Trump's MAGA base.
