Trump targets 'wrong villain' as allies fear latest push could trample states’ rights

As artificial intelligence grows in capability, the debate is raging over how it’s to be regulated. Today, the White House released a new National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence, in which it lays out a series of policy recommendations that it hopes to see Congress codify into law. While proponents claim these proposed rules will increase safety and support innovation, some experts argue that the framework will help in neither regard, while stepping on states’ rights.

In December, President Donald Trump announced a task force to develop suggestions for a national framework on AI, which participant and tech entrepreneur David Sacks claimed “was in response to a growing patchwork of 50 different state regulatory regimes that threaten to stifle innovation.” The resulting list of policy recommendations focuses on three areas: addressing what its framers perceive as political bias in AI training, protecting children and teens and removing barriers to innovation.

On this final point, the document makes it clear that the administration believes the greatest hindrance to AI development is regulation, as it explicitly calls on Congress to overrule or preempt any state laws that “impose undue burdens.” These include attempts to regulate how AI models are developed, or laws that hold AI companies responsible for how their products are used by others.

But according to Mackenzie Arnold, Director of U.S. Policy at Law AI, while he agrees that some state laws “will be misguided” and may “rankle builders,” he also asserts that the framework is “overly focused on state law being the enemy.”

“Let’s be real,” posted Arnold. “Most of these state laws do not threaten our national security or our path to innovation. And trying to beat back all laws that touch ‘AI development’ seems like the wrong category, one that confuses more than it helps, and one that doesn’t really overlap with the state laws of greatest concern.”

If Congress does decide to consider the administration’s policy suggestions, it sets the stage for a fight over states’ rights. Even the White House’s Republican allies think so.

“We’ve got to figure out how to do this in a way that addresses the concerns that a lot of our members have about not trampling state’s rights in the process,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) earlier this month. “We’re just trying to figure out how to thread that needle.”

“State law is the wrong villain and a weak lever for making things better,” Arnold concluded. “Preemption is the wrong battleground.”

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