Trump urges unified federal standards for AI over divisive state regulations

President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned states against overregulating artificial intelligence (AI) and urged the federal government to pull together a united AI standard that would protect children online and prevent censorship.

The comment comes as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise signaled GOP leadership could try to add language to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent states from bringing in their own AI rules and protections.

Trump stated that the United States' investments in AI is making the country's economy "the hottest in the world," but that overregulation by the states is threatening to undermine the potential advantages.

"Some States are even trying to embed DEI ideology into AI models, producing 'Woke AI' (Remember Black George Washington?)" the president posted on Truth Social. "We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes. If we don’t, then China will easily catch us in the AI race."

Trump also supported House Republicans using the NDAA to prevent states from imposing their own AI rules, or suggested passing a standalone bill on the subject, claiming that if there is a unified response "nobody will ever be able to compete with America."

State sovereignty when it comes to AI rules was also an issue after the House passed the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which included a provision that appeared to strip states of the right to make laws or regulate AI for 10 years. But the provision was later removed before the bill became law.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.