President Trump is preparing to weaponize federal courts against state AI regulation, with a draft executive order directing the Justice Department to sue states like California and Colorado over their AI safety laws. The unprecedented move could fundamentally reshape how America governs artificial intelligence by forcing a federal-only approach.
The Trump administration is about to drop a legal bombshell on state governments trying to regulate AI. A draft executive order obtained by WIRED reveals plans to create an "AI Litigation Task Force" within the Justice Department, specifically designed to sue states whose AI laws allegedly violate federal authority.
The order, titled "Eliminating State Law Obstruction of National AI Policy," could be signed as early as this week according to four sources familiar with the matter. It puts Attorney General Pam Bondi in charge of coordinating legal challenges against state regulations that "require AI models to alter their truthful outputs" or force developers to report information in ways that might violate the First Amendment.
California and Colorado find themselves directly in the crosshairs. Both states recently passed AI safety laws requiring transparency reports from developers about model training processes. The draft order specifically calls out these regulations as examples of the "patchwork" approach that Big Tech has been fighting.
That resistance isn't happening in a vacuum. Google, OpenAI, and Andreessen Horowitz have been pouring resources into lobbying efforts through groups like Chamber of Progress, arguing that state-by-state regulation hampers innovation. Their preferred alternative? A light-touch federal framework that would essentially preempt stricter state rules.
The financial stakes are massive. Trump's order instructs the Department of Commerce to craft guidelines that could strip states of access to the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program if they maintain problematic AI regulations. "Both the law and the Constitution prevent the President from unilaterally attaching strings to federal funds, especially when the stakes are this high," warns Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Silicon Valley's political machine is already in overdrive. A super PAC funded by Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale recently launched a campaign against New York Assembly member Alex Bores, who authored a state AI safety bill. The message is clear: cross the tech industry on AI regulation at your political peril.
