Trump's campaign to preempt state AI regulation faces resistance from states and Congress alike - The Next Web

So the Trump administration has decided the best way to 'responsibly unleash' AI is to unleash the Department of Justice on any state that dares to think about regulating it. According to The Next Web, they've launched a 'multi-front campaign' featuring a DOJ litigation task force and a legislative framework urging Congress to preempt state-level regulation with a national standard. Because nothing says 'coherent federal policy' like deploying lawyers to stifle local governance while simultaneously begging a gridlocked Congress to do something, anything, to create the very national rules you're using as a cudgel. It's a masterclass in bureaucratic jujitsu: use the absence of a law as a weapon against laws being made, all while pretending you're the one building the framework.

States, naturally, have responded to this charm offensive by accelerating their own AI bills, with over 40 states now considering some form of regulation. Congress, in a rare moment of bipartisan clarity, has reportedly rejected the preemption push, leaving the administration's task force to essentially argue that states should wait for a federal standard that may never materialize. The DOJ's litigation strategy, aimed at 'preventing a patchwork,' looks less like principled legal theory and more like a holding action by an administration that can't get its own house in order but is determined to ensure nobody else tidies up either. It's the regulatory equivalent of a toddler blocking the door to a messy room while shouting that someone else should clean it.

This delightful stalemate comes as the administration continues its outreach to AI CEOs, like Dario Amodei's chat we noted last week, to discuss responsible deployment. The irony of seeking industry input on 'safety' while legally hamstringing any entity that might actually impose safety rules is so thick you could spread it on toast. The result is a vacuum where corporate lobbying fills the space where public policy should be, all under the banner of 'national consistency.' It's a race to the bottom dressed up as a race to the top, and everyone's invited to watch the wheels spin.