US President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at preventing states from enforcing their own regulations on artificial intelligence (AI).
“We want to have a central source of approval,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
It will give the Trump administration tools to roll back the most “onerous” state rules, said White House artificial intelligence adviser David Sacks. The government will not oppose AI regulations relating to children’s safety, he added.
The move marks a victory for tech giants who have called for AI legislation across the United States, as it could have a major impact on America’s goal of leading the rapidly developing industry.
AI company bosses have argued that state-level regulations could curb innovation and hamper the United States in its race against China to dominate the industry, with companies investing billions of dollars in the technology.
The BBC has contacted artificial intelligence companies OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic for comments.
But the announcement has met with opposition.
The state of California, home to many of the world’s largest technology companies, already has its own AI regulations.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is an outspoken critic of Trump, issued a strongly worded statement in response to the executive order, accusing him of corruption.
“Today, President Trump continued his ongoing dispute in the White House, attempting to enrich himself and his associates, with a new executive order that seeks to preempt state laws protecting Americans from unregulated artificial intelligence technology.”
Earlier this year, Newsom signed a bill requiring the largest AI developers to design plans to limit risks from their AI models.
States such as Colorado and New York have also passed laws regulating the development of this technology.
Newsom has said the law sets a standard that U.S. lawmakers could follow.
Other critics of Trump’s executive order argue that state laws are necessary in the absence of significant barriers at the federal level.
“Stripping states from implementing their own safeguards against AI undermines states’ basic rights to establish sufficient safety barriers to protect their residents,” Julie Scelfo of the advocacy group Mothers Against Media Addiction said in a statement.
