Overview
- President Trump said he will soon issue an executive order to create a single national framework for AI, arguing a patchwork of state rules would hobble innovation and U.S. competitiveness.
- Republican and Democratic officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, contend an executive order cannot override state statutes and warn that only Congress could lawfully preempt them.
- A draft circulating in Washington envisions a Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws and contemplates using federal funding levers against states with rules deemed inconsistent.
- The White House’s case leans on the interstate nature of AI under the Commerce Clause, while OpenAI previously told the administration that true preemption would require an act of Congress.
- Separately, dozens of state attorneys general sent Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Apple and others a formal warning demanding audits, incident reporting, pre-release safety tests and child safeguards, with company commitments requested by Jan. 16, 2026.