The AI industry just fired the opening shot in what's shaping up to be the biggest regulatory battle in tech's history. A super PAC called Leading the Future launched a $10 million campaign today to push Congress toward a uniform national AI policy that would override state-by-state regulations, timing their offensive perfectly with the Trump administration's own war on state AI laws.
The timing couldn't be more calculated. Just as Leading the Future announced its $10 million blitz today, sources familiar with White House discussions told CNBC that congressional Republicans are actively working to slip preemption language into upcoming spending bills. The message is crystal clear: states need to back off, and fast.
The PAC isn't playing around with this campaign either. We're talking TV, digital, and social media ads plus an orchestrated assault of 10,000 calls to lawmakers' offices this week alone, according to internal memos. "There is broad public demand for congressional action and a uniform national approach to AI," Nathan Leamer, executive director of the PAC's advocacy arm Build American AI, told CNBC. But the real muscle behind this push comes from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, AI search company Perplexity, and SV Angel founder Ron Conway.
Trump's already singing from their hymn book. Last Tuesday, he posted on Truth Social that the U.S. "MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes." The same day, Leamer posted a White House photo, casually mentioning he was there discussing "the need for a national AI framework." Coincidence? Not likely.
The industry's urgency becomes clearer when you look at what's already happening at the state level. New York's RAISE Act, which codifies safety protocols for the largest AI companies, has passed the legislature and sits on Governor Kathy Hochul's desk. California's been drafting its own comprehensive AI regulations. These aren't symbolic gestures - they're real rules with real teeth that could fundamentally change how AI companies operate.
But the Trump administration isn't waiting for congressional action. A draft executive order that surfaced last week proposes creating an "AI Litigation Task Force" and threatens to withhold federal funding from states that don't fall in line. Trump's expected to sign an AI-related executive order today at 4 p.m. ET, though it's unclear if it's the same draft or something new entirely.
