Desk Reports:
Trump Administration Pauses Aggressive Push Against State AI Regulations
Okay, so get this: for a while now, the Trump administration has been really pushing back against state-level AI regulations. Honestly, the President himself basically summed it up in a social media post this week. He was totally arguing that the industry needs “one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.” I mean, who can blame them for wanting consistency, right?
The whole fight started with something pretty dramatic, to be fair. Initially, his “Big Beautiful Bill” actually included a massive, ten-year ban on states regulating AI—a truly huge move! But, surprisingly, the Senate completely shut that down, voting 99-1 to remove it. Talk about a bipartisan consensus!
The administration didn’t stop there, though. The idea just morphed into something new. In reality, they were reportedly drafting this intense-sounding executive order that would create an AI Litigation Task Force. The mission? To aggressively challenge state AI laws through lawsuits. Even wilder, states with those contested laws were apparently going to be threatened with losing their federal broadband funding. That’s some serious leverage, you know?
But now, here’s the kicker: Reuters is reporting that the executive order has been put on hold. Phew. If it had been signed, the truth is it would likely have faced massive backlash. We’re talking serious opposition, even from Republicans who had previously criticized that original idea of banning state regulation. It’s a hot potato, honestly.
And by the way, this isn’t just a DC fight. AI regulation is super controversial even in Silicon Valley. You’ve got some industry figures—especially those connected to the administration—attacking companies like Anthropic just because they support AI safety bills, like California’s SB 53. It really shows you how divided people are on whether AI needs a heavy leash or not.
