A billboard advertising an artificial intelligence company in San Francisco in September. California is among the leading states in artificial intelligence regulation, but an executive order signed by President Donald Trump aims to repeal state regulations on the technology. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
State lawmakers from both parties have said they plan to continue passing laws regulating artificial intelligence despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to rein them in.
Trump signed executive order Thursday night aimed at repealing state artificial intelligence laws. He said his administration needs to work with Congress to develop a national AI policy, but will address state laws in the meantime.
The order follows several other efforts by the Trump administration to relax state artificial intelligence laws and loosen restrictions on developers and technology companies.
But despite these moves, state lawmakers continue to draft AI legislation in preparation for the 2026 legislative sessions. Opponents are also skeptical of Trump’s proposed national framework and his ability to restrict states from making laws — and are likely to file a lawsuit.
“I agree that there shouldn’t be over-regulation, but I don’t think the federal government has the right to deprive me of my right to protect my constituents if there is a problem with artificial intelligence,” said South Carolina Republican Brandon Guffey, who wrote letter to Congress opposing legislation that would limit state AI regulations.
The letter, signed by 280 state lawmakers from across the country, shows that state lawmakers from both parties want to retain the ability to create their own artificial intelligence laws, said Dakota Democratic state Sen. Liz Larson, who co-authored the letter.
Earlier this year, South Dakota Republican Governor Larry Rhoden signed the state’s first A.I lawauthored by Larson, prohibiting the utilize of deepfakes – a digitally altered photo or video that can make it appear that someone is doing almost anything – to influence elections.
Larson said that in South Dakota and other states with more comprehensive AI laws, such as California and Colorado, their efforts would be invalidated under Trump’s executive order.
“To take all this work away in the blink of an eye and then prevent states from learning these lessons without providing an alternative framework at the federal level is simply irresponsible,” she said. “It takes power away from the states.”
Trump’s efforts
Thursday’s executive order will create an Artificial Intelligence Litigation Task Force that will file challenges in courts against states with artificial intelligence laws, with exceptions for a few issues such as protecting child safety and data center infrastructure.
The order also directs the Secretary of Commerce to notify states that they may lose specific funds under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program if their provisions conflict with national AI policy priorities.
Trump said the executive order would facilitate the United States beat China to dominate the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry, adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping had no similar restrictions.
“It won’t work unless there is one source of approval or disapproval,” he said. “It has to be one source. They can’t use 50 different sources.”
In July, the Trump administration published the so-called AI roadmapan initiative aimed at reducing regulatory barriers and accelerating the development of AI infrastructure, including: data centers. Trump has too canceled the Biden era Security and anti-discrimination policy regarding artificial intelligence.
The tech industry lobbied for Trump’s order.
“This executive order is an important step toward ensuring that smart, unified federal policy – not bureaucratic red tape – secures the dominance of American AI for generations to come,” Amy Bos, vice president of government affairs for NetChoice, a technology trade association, said in a statement to Stateline.
As the administration seeks to address growing threats to national defense and cybersecurity, a centralized, national approach to AI policy is best, said Paul Lekas, executive vice president for global public policy and government affairs at the Software & Information Industry Association.
“The White House is very motivated to ensure that there are no barriers to innovation and that we can continue to move forward,” he said. “The White House is concerned that there is state legislation that can purport to regulate interstate commerce. We would create a patchwork that would be very difficult for innovation.”
Congressional Republicans have tried to pass moratoriums on state artificial intelligence laws twice this year, but both attempts have failed.
In the absence of a comprehensive federal AI policy, state lawmakers have worked to regulate the rapid development of AI systems and protect consumers from potential harm.
Trump’s order could raise concerns among lawmakers who fear possible retaliation from the administration for their efforts, said Travis Hall, director of state engagement at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights and free speech.
“I cannot imagine that state legislators will not continue to try to use these technologies to help protect and respond to the concerns of their constituents,” Hall said. “However, there is no doubt that the purpose of this executive order is to chill any actual oversight, accountability or regulation.”
State rules
This year, 38 states have passed or implemented AI-related measures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures database. Many state lawmakers have also drafted preliminary legislation for 2026.
However, tensions have increased over the past few months Trump has pushed for deregulation, and states continue to create guardrails.
It holds no water and has no teeth because the president has no power to override state law.
– Democratic Colorado State Representative Brianna Titone
In 2024, Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed introducing the country’s first comprehensive artificial intelligence framework into law. Under lawcreators of artificial intelligence systems will be obliged to protect consumers from potential algorithmic discrimination.
But the execution of the law has been postponed several months until June 2026 after negotiations stalled during this summer’s special legislative session, aimed at ensuring that the law hinder technological innovation. – said Polis spokesman Bloomberg in May that the governor supported a U.S. House GOP proposal that would impose a moratorium on state artificial intelligence laws.
Trump’s executive order, which lists the Colorado law as an example of legislation the administration could challenge, has created uncertainty among some state lawmakers focused on regulating artificial intelligence. But Colorado Republican Brianna Titone and state Sen. Robert Rodriguez, the bill’s Democratic sponsors, said they would continue their work.
If Congress doesn’t pass legislation restricting states from passing artificial intelligence laws, Trump’s executive order could easily be challenged and invalidated in court, she added.
“It’s just a bunch of hot air,” Titone said. “It holds no water and has no teeth because the president has no authority to override state law. We will continue to do what we can for the people of our state, just as we have always done, unless federal law provides for actual expropriation.”
California and Illinois have also been at the forefront of AI legislation over the past few years. In September, California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed the nation’s first bill into law law establishing a comprehensive legal framework for creators of the most advanced, large-scale artificial intelligence models, the so-called pioneering artificial intelligence models. These efforts aim to prevent AI models from causing catastrophic harm involving dozens of lives or billions of dollars in damage.
California officials they said are considering filing a legal challenge to Trump and other states’ order and groups they will probably file a lawsuit too.
Republican officials and GOP-led states, including some Trump allies, are also pushing artificial intelligence regulations. Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah propose efforts to protect consumers from AI-related harms.
Earlier this month, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also introduced a proposal AI Bill of Rights. The proposal aims to strengthen consumer protection related to artificial intelligence and address the problem the growing impact of data centers on local communities.
In South Carolina, Guffey said he plans to introduce a bill in January that would set rules for AI chatbots. Chatbots using artificial intelligence are able to simulate conversations with users, but they raise privacy and security concerns.
Guffey noted that artificial intelligence is developing rapidly. State lawmakers are working to ensure the sheltered utilize of this technology and will continue to do so to protect their constituents, he said.
“The problem is that it’s not treated like a product, it’s treated like a service,” Guffey said. “If it were treated like a product, we have consumer protection laws where products can be recalled and adjusted and then put back when they are safe. But that’s not the case with any of these technologies.”
Stateline reporter Madyson Fitzgerald can be reached at: mfitzgerald@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by State linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
