Trump signs order targeting ‘cumbersome’ state AI regulation

US President Donald Trump holds up his signed AI initiative during a signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Thursday evening to federally preempt state artificial intelligence regulations, taking multiple steps to identify state AI laws that “warrant change” — including establishing a new AI Litigation Task Force, restricting broadband grant funding to states deemed to have noncompliant laws and beginning preparations for a uniform federal AI policy framework.

The order, which targets “cumbersome regulation” that stands to undermine the Trump administration’s broader agenda for the U.S. to lead the global race to AI dominance, will leverage federal resources to evaluate which state AI laws are overly burdensome. 

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