Emerging Federal AI Strategy: FTC Sets Aside Rytr Consent Order; and Uncertainty Looms with BEAD Funding and State AI Laws — AI: The Washington Report | Mintz – Antitrust Viewpoints
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/emerging-federal-ai-strategy-ftc-sets-4392151/
Publish Date: 2026-02-16 09:57:00
Source Domain: www.jdsupra.com
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has set aside its 2024 consent order against the generative AI company Rytr, reflecting a shift towards a more innovation-focused regulatory approach aligned with the Biden-era White House AI Action Plan and Trump-era executive orders.
- This marks the first significant enforcement action of the FTC under the directive to review and potentially modify or set aside regulations that “unduly burden AI innovation.”
- The decision also suggests a growing reluctance by the Federal Trade Commission to pursue theories of liability based on the potential misuse of AI tools.
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) held a meeting discussing the use of “nondeployment” funds from the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, with potential conditions set by President Trump’s recent executive order to withhold funding from states with “onerous AI laws.”
- The executive order seeks to preempt state AI regulations that could conflict with federal interests and promote a more uniform federal AI governance structure.
- The Trump administration’s efforts, including both NTIA and FTC actions, reflect a coordinated federal effort to centralize AI governance and restrict state AI regulatory activities.
- FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty reinforced this federal stance at the State of the Net conference, emphasizing the detrimental impact of fragmented state AI regulation on US competitiveness and infrastructure deployment and aligning with the administration’s broader pro-innovation AI strategy.
