AI preemption
In plain wordsThe push in the United States for a single national AI law that would override the states' own AI laws, and the fight over whether that is wise or even lawful.
In US law, the displacement of state AI regulation by federal law, and the political campaign to achieve it. Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, a federal statute can preempt state law expressly, by occupying a field or through conflict; an executive order cannot do so by itself, though agencies acting under statutory authority sometimes can. Supporters, including the Trump administration and much of the AI industry, argue that divergent state laws such as the Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027., SB 53SB 53, prop. n.: A 2025 California law requiring developers of the most powerful AI models to publish their safety plans, report serious safety incidents to the state and protect employees who raise alarms. and the RAISE ActRAISE Act, prop. n.: A New York law requiring the largest AI developers to publish how they manage catastrophic risks and to report serious safety incidents quickly to a new state office. It takes effect in 2027. create a costly patchwork and hamper competition with China. Opponents, including state officials of both parties, civil-society groups and some developers, argue that states are filling a vacuum left by Congress and that preemption without federal standards amounts to deregulation. Proposals range from a blanket bar on enforcing state AI laws to time-limited preemption of rules on frontier-model development, with carve-outs for child safety and laws of general applicability.
Any preemption deal will turn on whether state child-safety and deepfake laws are carved out.
Origin
Became a live federal issue in May 2025, when the House put a ten-year moratorium on enforcing state AI laws into its budget reconciliation bill; the Senate stripped it 99–1 on July 1, 2025. President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14365 of December 11, 2025, 'Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence', created a Justice Department AI Litigation Task Force (January 2026), sought to tie federal broadband funds to states' AI laws and requested a preemptive federal bill.
Usage note
As of late September 2026 Congress had passed no preemption statute; proposals included the Great American AI Act, a House draft released in June 2026 that would set a national framework including rules for frontier models. The Justice Department filed a companion complaint in xAI's April 2026 challenge to Colorado's law.
Related
- Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027.
- SB 53SB 53, prop. n.: A 2025 California law requiring developers of the most powerful AI models to publish their safety plans, report serious safety incidents to the state and protect employees who raise alarms.
- RAISE ActRAISE Act, prop. n.: A New York law requiring the largest AI developers to publish how they manage catastrophic risks and to report serious safety incidents quickly to a new state office. It takes effect in 2027.
- America's AI Action PlanAmerica's AI Action Plan, prop. n.: The Trump administration's 2025 strategy for winning a global AI race: cutting regulation, building data centers and power plants quickly, and exporting American AI technology to allies.
- Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance ActTexas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, prop. n.: A Texas law, in force since 2026, that bans a short list of harmful uses of AI — such as pushing people toward self-harm or making sexual deepfakes of children — and sets rules for government use of AI.
- AI regulationAI regulation, n.: Laws and binding government rules about artificial intelligence: what AI may be used for, what checks its makers must run, and what penalties apply when they break the rules.
Sources
- Executive Order 14365 of December 11, 2025: Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence. The American Presidency Project. presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14365-ensuring-national-policy-framework-for-artificial-intelligence
- Washington Legal Foundation (2026). Compromise Necessary but Not Sufficient for AI Preemption. WLF Legal Pulse, June 22, 2026.
Mentioned in
AI regulationAI regulation, n.: Laws and binding government rules about artificial intelligence: what AI may be used for, what checks its makers must run, and what penalties apply when they break the rules., America's AI Action PlanAmerica's AI Action Plan, prop. n.: The Trump administration's 2025 strategy for winning a global AI race: cutting regulation, building data centers and power plants quickly, and exporting American AI technology to allies., AI liabilityAI liability, n.: Who has to pay or answer in court when an AI system causes harm — the company that built it, the business that used it or the person who relied on it — and under which laws., Colorado AI ActColorado AI Act, prop. n.: A Colorado law, first passed in 2024, governing AI used to make important decisions about people, such as hiring, lending and housing. In 2026 it was rewritten as a narrower law that starts in 2027., RAISE ActRAISE Act, prop. n.: A New York law requiring the largest AI developers to publish how they manage catastrophic risks and to report serious safety incidents quickly to a new state office. It takes effect in 2027., SB 53SB 53, prop. n.: A 2025 California law requiring developers of the most powerful AI models to publish their safety plans, report serious safety incidents to the state and protect employees who raise alarms., Greg BrockmanGreg Brockman, prop. n.: An American engineer who helped start OpenAI in 2015 and became its president, after serving as the first technology chief of the payments company Stripe., SB 243SB 243, prop. n.: A 2025 California law requiring AI companion chatbots to tell users they are not human, respond safely when people talk about suicide, and protect minors, including with regular reminders to take a break., Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance ActTexas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, prop. n.: A Texas law, in force since 2026, that bans a short list of harmful uses of AI — such as pushing people toward self-harm or making sexual deepfakes of children — and sets rules for government use of AI.