JUNE 14, 2026
States push ahead with AI regulations six months after Trump executive order warned them not to
Six months after President Trump issued an executive order directing the attorney general to challenge state AI laws deemed more than "minimally burdensome," states have continued to introduce and pass AI legislation at an increasing pace. Congress has not produced federal AI regulation, leaving a regulatory vacuum that states across party lines are moving to fill. Trump's order also threatened to withhold federal grant funding from states with AI laws, but the White House has not yet taken enforcement action in court or withheld money from any state.
President Trump made AI a top national and economic security priority, arguing that a patchwork of state regulations would hamper an industry spending trillions of dollars and put the United States at a disadvantage in competition with China. His executive order directed the attorney general to create a task force to challenge state laws and directed the Commerce Department to compile a list of problematic regulations. It also threatened to restrict funding from a broadband deployment program and other federal grant programs to states with AI laws.
Despite those measures, more AI bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year than last year, according to Justine Gluck, policy director of the Future of Privacy Forum. The bills span both Republican- and Democratic-led states, and many are more targeted than earlier, broader measures that governors had vetoed or allowed to fail as too burdensome on the industry.
In Illinois, legislation on Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker's desk would require AI developers to engage independent auditors to review compliance with their own policies — a step analysts described as moving toward greater developer accountability. The bill drew near-unanimous support, including from Republicans. The bill's sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, said of Trump's threat: "I don't know if you've met Illinois, but we're pretty independent." A growing number of states — including Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon — have also passed laws requiring companies to disclose when consumers are interacting with AI rather than a human, with additional restrictions on how chatbots interact with minors.