The White House is preparing to issue an executive order as soon as Friday that would direct federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, to block state-level artificial intelligence regulations. According to a leaked draft of the order obtained by POLITICO, the directive would create an AI Litigation Task Force at the DOJ, responsible for challenging state laws that regulate AI on constitutional grounds, federal preemption, or other discretionary reasons.
Government lawyers would be instructed to challenge state legislative efforts on the grounds that they infringe upon interstate commerce regulations or conflict with existing federal laws. The task force would work alongside administration officials, including David Sacks, the special adviser for AI and crypto, to evaluate these state laws. Additionally, the order would grant Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick the authority to review and potentially restrict state laws deemed “onerous” within 90 days.
The executive order would also direct the Federal Trade Commission to investigate state laws that require AI models to alter their truthful outputs, assessing whether these are blocked by the FTC Act. The Federal Communications Commission would be tasked with developing a reporting standard for AI models to preempt conflicting state laws. These measures aim to create a unified federal approach to AI regulation and limit state legislative interference in this emerging field.