Trump Targets State AI Regulation, Again

A newly proposed policy blueprint navigates the complex landscape of artificial intelligence, responding to bipartisan demands for enhanced child safety while steadfastly prioritizing the acceleration of AI innovation.

The Trump administration recently unveiled its comprehensive seven-point legislative blueprint for AI regulation, delivering a clear directive: the federal government should primarily limit its regulatory scope to child safety measures and actively prevent states from disrupting the "national strategy to achieve global AI dominance."

The plan recommends that Congress implement stronger safeguards to protect minors interacting with AI services and address the potential for AI infrastructure to cause surges in electricity costs. It also promotes "youth development and skills training" to foster familiarity with AI tools, though without extensive elaboration. Crucially, the blueprint adopts a cautious "wait-and-see" approach regarding the legality of training AI models on copyrighted material without explicit permission. It also reinforces a long-standing Republican position to restrict states from enacting their own AI legislation.

It is important to note that the entirety of this document and its proposed provisions will only become effective if Congress formally adopts them into legislation and passes them into law.

Among its recommendations, the Trump administration's blueprint advocates for legislation similar to the Take It Down Act, which became law in May 2025 and prohibits nonconsensual AI-generated "intimate visual depictions," requiring platforms to swiftly remove such content. The document also supports age verification, suggesting that Congress "establish commercially reasonable, privacy protective, age assurance requirements (such as parental attestation) for AI platforms and services likely to be accessed by minors." This approach to age-gating, however, is not without controversy due to privacy concerns and potential surveillance implications. Further child protection measures include limiting AI models' ability to train on minors' data and restricting targeted advertising based on such data—though the blueprint aims to limit, not prohibit, these practices. Simultaneously, it cautions Congress against "setting ambiguous standards about permissible content, or open-ended liability, that could give rise to excessive litigation."

In an era increasingly shaped by deepfakes and highly realistic AI-generated videos capable of rapidly spreading misinformation, the new policy blueprint proposes "considering establishing a federal framework protecting individuals from the unauthorized distribution or commercial use of AI-generated digital replicas of their voice, likeness, or other identifiable attributes." This could potentially pave the way for a federal likeness law. However, it also emphasizes the necessity for lawmakers to include "clear exceptions" for uses protected by the First Amendment, such as parody, news reporting, and satire.

Regarding AI copyright, the blueprint expressly discourages Congress from legislative intervention. It states, "Although the Administration believes that training of AI models on copyrighted material does not violate copyright laws, it acknowledges arguments to the contrary exist and therefore supports allowing the Courts to resolve this issue." The document further advises, "Congress should not take any actions that would impact the judiciary’s resolution of whether training on copyrighted material constitutes fair use."

Another section of the blueprint highlights concerns about the proliferation of large-scale scams and fraud increasingly facilitated by AI. It calls upon Congress to "augment existing law enforcement efforts to combat AI-enabled impersonation scams and fraud that target vulnerable populations such as seniors," though it refrains from providing additional specific details on how this augmentation should occur.

The Trump administration continues to champion a pro-federal, anti-state approach to AI regulation, a stance it has promoted for nearly a year with limited success. The blueprint recommends that Congress "preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens" and prevent "fifty discordant" standards for businesses. It asserts that states "should not be permitted to regulate AI development, because it is an inherently interstate phenomenon with key foreign policy and national security implications." Additional legal safeguards for AI companies are also included, such as preventing states from "penaliz[ing] AI developers for a third party’s unlawful conduct involving their models." However, in a notable concession within the child-privacy section, the document allows states limited autonomy, stating that Congress should not preempt states from "enforcing their own generally applicable laws protecting children, such as prohibitions on child sexual abuse material, even where such material is generated by AI." This allowance follows widespread bipartisan concerns, including from nearly 40 state and territorial attorneys general, about overriding local child safety statutes.

Consistent with earlier Trump administration proposals, the overarching objective of this blueprint is to accelerate AI development. The document declares, "The United States must lead the world in AI by removing barriers to innovation [and] accelerating deployment of AI applications across sectors." It further suggests that Congress should facilitate access to federal datasets for AI companies and academics, making them available in "AI-ready formats for use in training AI models and systems," though it does not specify which datasets are intended for public release. Addressing a long-standing debate in AI regulation, the plan definitively states that Congress "should not create any new federal rulemaking body to regulate AI." Instead, it advocates for supporting "development and deployment of sector-specific AI applications through existing regulatory bodies with subject matter expertise."

This blueprint arrives after President Trump’s executive order last July aimed at preventing "woke AI" by prohibiting government agencies from utilizing models incorporating topics like systemic racism. More recently, he directed all agencies to blacklist Anthropic, an AI company he labeled "Radical Left," for imposing limits on military use of its models—a move Anthropic claims violates its First Amendment rights. Concurrently, the blueprint itself asserts that the government "must defend free speech and First Amendment protections, while preventing AI systems from being used to silence or censor lawful political expression or dissent." It goes further, urging Congress to explicitly prevent the government from "coercing" AI providers "to ban, compel, or alter content based on partisan or ideological agendas," and to provide a mechanism for Americans to "seek redress" if government agencies censor expression or dictate information on AI platforms.

Addressing recent bipartisan concerns about rising utility bills in communities near data centers, the new AI policy framework proposes solutions from both sides of the aisle. It suggests Congress should ensure that "residential ratepayers do not experience increased electricity costs as a result of new AI data center construction and operation." Simultaneously, it calls for streamlining federal permits for data center construction and operation, making it easier for AI companies to "develop or procure on-site and behind-the-meter power generation." This dual approach aims to maintain rapid data center expansion while shielding community residents from direct financial burdens on their monthly utility statements.