Trump’s AI Executive Order: State AI Laws Under Attack | Weintraub Tobin

Trump’s AI Executive Order: State AI Laws Under Attack | Weintraub Tobin

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/trump-s-ai-executive-order-state-ai-3578042/

Publish Date: 2026-01-27 12:02:00

Source Domain: www.jdsupra.com

• Non-preemption of State Laws: President Trump’s executive order aims to remove barriers to U.S. AI leadership but does not preempt existing state laws, including California’s AI regulations under FEHA and CCPA. Employers are still required to follow these local laws unless courts intervene or Congress enacts federal preemption.

• AI Litigation Task Force: The Attorney General must establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” to evaluate and challenge state AI laws that conflict with the EO’s goals of enabling innovation with minimal regulation.

• State AI Laws Evaluation: The Department of Commerce must evaluate state AI laws within 90 days to identify those that are particularly restrictive and may conflict with the EO’s objectives.

• Federal Funding Conditions: Executive departments and agencies are directed to consider conditioning federal funding on compliance with the EO’s objectives, assessing whether state AI laws that conflict with this order are permissible.

• Federal Reporting Standards: The Federal Communications Commission must explore creating a federal reporting and disclosure standard for AI models that may preempt conflicting state laws.

• FTC Policy Statement: The Federal Trade Commission must provide a policy statement within 90 days addressing how the FTC Act applies to AI models, specifically regarding unfair practices and the preemption of certain state laws.

• Uniform Federal Policy Framework: Officials are tasked with preparing a legislative recommendation for a uniform federal AI policy framework that would preempt conflicting state laws, with specified carve-outs for child safety, AI infrastructure, state procurement of AI, and other topics.

• Ongoing Legal Challenges: The executive order’s implications will further evolve through anticipated legal challenges from both federal entities and states, potentially leading to congressional actions on federalizing certain aspects of AI regulation that conflict with state laws.