Increased state-level regulation potentially on the horizon

On January 23, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order (EO) Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. The artificial intelligence (AI)- focused EO is anticipated by the White House to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance” while continuing to develop “AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.”

Unlike some AI initiatives at the federal level, the EO is a concise and aspirational mandate calling for development of an “AI Action Plan” within six months with the goal of advancing the new administration’s policy objective “to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.”

This EO follows another signed by President Trump shortly after he was sworn into office that repealed the EO signed by President Biden in 2023, Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. The previous administration sought to advance and govern the development and use of AI in accordance with a set of principles and priorities, such as privacy, civil rights and liberties, workers’ rights and consumer protection, as well as by promoting innovation, competition, and US leadership. The Biden AI EO was one of 78 policies enacted by the previous administration that were revoked on Day One of the Trump Administration under a far-reaching document titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Action.

While the specific contours of the emerging national policy direction on AI are not yet clear, one potential consequence of the new administration’s approach is an accelerating patchwork of state-level laws, enforcement actions, and litigation aimed at filling the void. Read more here.