Overview
- Signed Dec. 11, the order creates a Department of Justice AI Litigation Task Force within 30 days to challenge state laws deemed inconsistent with federal policy.
- The Commerce Department must within 90 days publish a list of state measures it considers onerous, with Colorado’s algorithmic-discrimination law and California’s ADMT rules flagged by legal analysts as likely targets.
- The plan instructs agencies to explore conditioning federal money, including remaining BEAD broadband funds, on states pausing or refraining from enforcing conflicting AI regulations.
- FCC and FTC actions are teed up to lay groundwork for preemption, including potential federal disclosure standards and guidance on when state rules that force changes to truthful AI outputs would be unlawful.
- The order does not itself invalidate state statutes, and resistance is mounting as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asserts the state’s right to regulate while analysts forecast years of litigation and note large AI firms stand to benefit from a single framework.