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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, criticized a new executive order aimed at blocking states from creating their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations.
Why It Matters
Trump told reporters that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations compete to dominate in the field of AI.
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"I believe there will only be one country that really benefits and it should be the United States, and it will be if we do this, if we unify. We have to be unified," the president said.
As the technology grows, some lawmakers have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there isn't enough oversight for the new technology.
California, Colorado, Texas and Utah have already passed laws setting some rules for AI across the private sector, the Associated Press reported, citing the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). These include limiting the collection of some personal information and requiring increased transparency from corporations.
In addition to broader rules on AI, many states have regulated certain aspects of the technology, including bans on the use of deepfakes to create nonconsensual explicit content and restrictions on the government’s use of AI.
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What To Know
On Thursday, the president signed an executive order directing the attorney general to create a new task force to challenge state laws on AI. It also directs the Commerce Department to draw up a list of "onerous” regulations. Additionally, the order threatens to restrict funding from a broadband deployment program and other grant programs to states with AI laws.
Bannon called the executive order “entirely unenforceable” on social media platform GETTR on Thursday.
"After two humiliating face plants on must-past legislation now we attempt an entirely unenforceable EO— tech bros doing upmost to turn POTUS MAGA base away from him while they line their pockets," he wrote in a separate post on the social media platform.
Bannon, who has been vocal about supporting state-level regulation, also told Axios in a text message, “David Sacks having face-planted twice on jamming AI Amnesty into must-pass legislation now completely misleads the President on preemption."
Sacks, a venture capitalist who is leading Trump’s policies on cryptocurrency and AI, said the Trump administration would push back on “the most onerous examples of state regulation” but would not oppose “kid safety” measures.
In July, the U.S. Senate voted nearly unanimously to remove a 10-year moratorium on the enforcement of state AI regulations from a domestic policy bill before the legislation passed, CNN reported. Congress also didn't add a moratorium on the enforcement of state AI regulations to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), despite a suggestion to do so from the president.
Meanwhile, the new executive order has also drawn criticism from some Democratic lawmakers.
“Trump doesn't have this authority,” Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, wrote on X on Thursday. “States are filling a void left by the federal government's failure to hold AI companies accountable. But after those companies donated millions to Trump's campaign, his inauguration fund, and his ballroom, Trump is doing their bidding. This cannot stand.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said the executive order is “the wrong approach—and most likely illegal.”
“We need a strong federal safety standard, but we should not remove the few protections Americans currently have from the downsides of AI,” she wrote on X on Thursday.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump in comments to reporters in the Oval Office: “We have the big investment coming, but if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you can forget it because it’s impossible to do.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, wrote on X on Friday: “Trump’s executive order supporting his fellow oligarchs is not only unconstitutional, it’s extremely dangerous. AI poses serious dangers to our economy, our privacy, our emotional well-being and our democracy. We cannot let a handful of oligarchs decide the future of humanity.”
What Happens Next?
The executive order directs the attorney general to create an AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days of the order’s signing, who will be responsible for challenging state AI laws inconsistent with the policy set forth in the executive order.
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