States Press Ahead With AI Regulation as Federal Oversight Recedes Under Trump

State governments are moving forward with artificial intelligence regulation at an accelerating pace, defying the Trump administration's posture of deferring to industry on AI oversight, according to a report by The New York Times published Monday. California, Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and several other states have advanced or enacted AI-related legislation and executive orders in recent months, filling a vacuum left by the federal rollback of Biden-era AI safety measures. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Monday requiring AI companies that contract with the state to meet safety and privacy standards. The pattern represents an inversion of the usual dynamic in technology regulation, where federal preemption arguments have historically been used to limit state action. With the Trump administration explicitly pulling back from AI oversight and rescinding Biden's October 2023 executive order on AI safety, states have concluded that federal guardrails are not coming and are acting unilaterally. The patchwork of state AI rules creates compliance complexity for AI companies, many of which operate nationally or globally. A company subject to California's state contracting rules, Colorado's AI act requirements, and Illinois's biometric data law faces three distinct regulatory frameworks with different standards and enforcement mechanisms. The AI industry has generally preferred federal preemption of state rules, arguing that a single national standard would be less burdensome than navigating 50 different regulatory frameworks. That preference has not translated into federal action under the current administration. The EU's AI Act, which took effect in 2024 and is being phased in over several years, remains the most comprehensive AI regulatory framework in effect globally, and U.S. companies selling into the EU market must comply regardless of domestic federal policy.