IP Law Daily, AI NEWS—Republican state lawmakers write President with request for states to govern AI, (Mar 5, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Americans Responsible Innovation
By Joe Cox, J.D.
Republican legislators from 22 states wrote the President to request freedom to govern AI on the state level.
A group of 51 Republican state lawmakers from 22 different states have written to President Donald Trump seeking leave to govern artificial intelligence (AI) at the state level. The letter follows reported efforts from the Trump administration to deter states from crafting their own AI-related legislation. This followed a December Executive Order from the President claiming to preempt state regulation of AI.
A press release from Americans for Responsible Innovation notes that state concerns about AI often involve “fast-moving AI systems, including youth exposure to deepfake content, transparency when interacting with AI systems, and the local impacts of rapid data center development.” States, the press release posits, are actively addressing “real and growing harms” in a “targeted and pragmatic way.”
Lawmakers’ letter. The legislators, representing the states of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia, noted that they believed that state-led efforts “are fully consistent with conservative principles” and would supplement rather than contradict Federal AI legislation.
The legislators describe the actions opposed by the White House as “legislation aimed at mitigating risks at leading AI labs and safeguarding constituents, including young people, from AI’s worst harms.” In their letter, the legislators note that under federalism, states “have long served as laboratories of democracy” and express concern that the Trump administration’s response is “prevent[ing] the passage of measures holding the tech industry accountable” and could “leave states unable to respond to emerging harms” and “limit our ability to fulfill our responsibilities to the people we represent.”
Executive Order. In December, the President issued an Executive Order purporting to preempt state AI regulation. While opponents of the Order declared it likely to be overruled, the Order demonstrated the administration’s dislike of state-level regulation of AI (see Banking and Finance Law Daily, Dec. 12, 2025). The letter from the state legislators asks for the states to be able to work “constructively with [Trump’s] Administration to craft smart, pro-innovation, pro-family AI policies that reflect both national priorities and state-level realities.”
Companies: Americans Responsible Innovation
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