In a move that could redefine the balance of power between Washington and the states, President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order that effectively neuters local governments' ability to regulate artificial intelligence. Drafted in the wake of failed congressional efforts to impose a nationwide moratorium on state AI laws, the order - titled "Promoting American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence" - would centralize oversight under federal control, branding any state-level rules as threats to "innovation and interstate commerce."
At its core, the directive instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to stand up the AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days. This DOJ strike team - staffed with up to 50 lawyers and analysts - would have one mission: to sue states whose AI regulations "unconstitutionally burden the growth of the AI industry."
Targets already in the crosshairs include Colorado's pioneering AI safety bill (passed in May 2025, mandating bias audits for high-risk systems) and California's AB 2013 (the "Deepfake Accountability Act," effective January 2026, requiring watermarking on AI-generated media).
The task force could invoke the Commerce Clause, arguing that fragmented rules create a "patchwork of 50 state regulatory regimes" that hampers national tech giants like OpenAI and Google.
But lawsuits are just the opening salvo. The order escalates with a financial hammer: states defying the feds risk losing access to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a $42.45 billion pot from the 2021 Infrastructure Act aimed at wiring rural America with high-speed internet.
Non-compliant states could see grants frozen or clawed back - up to $1.5 billion for California alone, per preliminary estimates from the Commerce Department. Trump's rationale?
Rural broadband is the lifeblood of AI deployment (think edge computing in farms), and "woke" state laws - like New York's proposed ban on AI hiring tools that discriminate - would stifle it. "We can't let blue-state bureaucrats kill American AI supremacy," Trump posted on Truth Social on November 19, 2025. "One standard, not fifty woke nightmares. China laughs if we don't act."
This isn't Trump's first rodeo with federal preemption. During his first term, he wielded similar tactics against sanctuary cities, withholding $25 billion in law enforcement grants via Executive Order 13768 (2017). But the AI push lands in a hotter climate: over 20 states have enacted AI bills since 2023, from Utah's facial recognition restrictions to Illinois' biometric privacy expansions.
Tech safety advocates, like the Center for Humane Technology, warn it could greenlight unchecked deepfakes, algorithmic bias, and job-killing automation. "This is a blank check for Big Tech," said Alejandra Montoya-Boyer of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Even red-state governors like Ron DeSantis (Florida) and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Arkansas) have balked, calling it a "federal overreach that ignores states' rights."
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The order's timing is no accident. It follows a July 2025 "big beautiful bill" where Republicans floated a 10-year state AI ban, only to scrap it amid bipartisan backlash. Now, with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) looming, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is eyeing a rider to embed similar language.
Trump's endorsement? A fiery Truth Social rant: "Federal standard NOW, or China wins the AI race." Silicon Valley cheers - Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg dined at the White House on November 18, 2025, amid whispers of $500 million in campaign soft support from AI PACs.
Yet, cracks are showing. The White House paused the EO's rollout on November 21, 2025, per Reuters, after internal pushback from budget hawks worried about BEAD's rural voter backlash (the program has doled out $20 billion to 40 states already).
Legal eagles predict a Supreme Court showdown: the Roberts Court's 2024 Trump v. United States immunity ruling nodded to unitary executive theory, but states could counter with 10th Amendment arguments. "This isn't leadership - it's coercion," quipped Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
As the ink dries (or doesn't), one thing's clear: Trump's AI crusade isn't just about code - it's about code-breaking federalism. In a nation born from state sovereignty, he's betting big on a singular vision: American AI, unapologetically unleashed. Woke or not, the future's watching.
