By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the U.S. economy, lawmakers, state attorneys general, and the White House are accelerating efforts to advance competing visions for national oversight.
With Congress unable to pass comprehensive AI legislation, the policy vacuum has driven state leaders and federal officials to craft their own approaches—culminating this week in two major developments: a bipartisan state-led AI Task Force and President Donald Trump’s announcement of a sweeping executive order aimed at creating a single national standard for AI.
On Monday, President Trump declared that he will sign what he calls a “ONE RULE Executive Order”, designed to override the growing patchwork of state-level AI regulations. Trump argued on Truth Social that U.S. companies “cannot get 50 approvals every time they want to do something,” insisting that national uniformity is essential for the United States to stay competitive with China. Reuters previously reported that the order may attempt to preempt state laws by authorizing federal lawsuits and withholding federal funding from states that enact independent AI rules—an approach strongly supported by major technology companies, including OpenAI, Google, and Meta.
Governors and attorneys general—who have passed laws to combat deepfakes, protect children, and regulate high-risk AI systems—argue they must retain the authority to protect their residents.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently proposed an “AI Bill of Rights” emphasizing privacy and parental controls, and California now requires AI developers to document catastrophic-risk mitigation plans.
Amid this battle, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, a Republican, have launched a nationwide bipartisan AI Task Force. The initiative, created in partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft, and the Attorney General Alliance, represents the most coordinated state-led effort to date to govern AI in the absence of congressional action.
Jackson and Brown have emphasized that their mission is not only reactive enforcement but “forward-looking coordination” that protects the public—especially children—from AI-related harms.
The new Task Force has three primary responsibilities: work with law enforcement, researchers, and industry to identify emerging AI issues and ensure attorneys general are equipped to respond to rapidly evolving risks. It will draft “basic safeguards” for AI developers, establishing baseline expectations for transparency, youth protection, and harm-reduction across the industry. And it will serve as a standing national forum that monitors AI developments and coordinates multi-state action when new challenges emerge.
Earlier this year, Jackson and Brown pushed for stronger protections against deepfake sexual imagery, urged financial and tech companies to disrupt monetization of nonconsensual AI-generated content, and successfully opposed federal budget language that would have imposed a decade-long moratorium on enforcing AI-related laws.
Meanwhile, Congress continues to explore broad federal policies through efforts like the 2024 Bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which recently released a detailed report outlining the federal government’s path toward responsible AI adoption. The report highlights the transformative potential of AI for federal agencies but warns of serious risks tied to algorithmic decision-making, uneven workforce readiness, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and unclear governance structures. Its recommendations call for flexible federal oversight frameworks, standardized notification requirements when AI is used in government functions, stronger data governance, support for NIST’s AI guidelines, improved cybersecurity, and skills-based hiring initiatives to address gaps in federal AI expertise.
Yet even as congressional committees outline frameworks and the White House moves toward a single national rulebook, the bipartisan Task Force formed by Jackson and Brown underscores the states’ determination to maintain a central role in shaping AI policy. With the White House preparing to challenge state authority and Congress still negotiating its own approach, the nation is entering a volatile period of overlapping initiatives that may ultimately define how AI is governed for decades.
