The president signed Thursdayan executive order that seeks to institute a national AI standard by pushing back on state AI laws.
While the president has support from several prominent Republicans on the issue, others within the party have voiced their opposition to the push to limit states’ efforts to regulate AI, including Trump’s one-time rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
“You’ve got a whole cadre of senators and MAGA influencers that have staked out a position on AI that is not consistent with what the president signed yesterday,” said one Republican lobbyist.
Former Trump campaign advisor Steve Bannon, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, criticized the president’s move Thursday to hinder states from enacting their own AI regulations.
“After two humiliating face plants on must-past legislation now we attempt an entirely unenforceable EO— tech bros doing upmost to turn POTUS MAGA base away from him while they line their pockets,” Bannon said in a statement on the platform Gettr.
The AI industry has argued that it would be exceedingly difficult to comply with a patchwork of 50 different state laws, especially for such a nascent industry. Numerous AI companies have pushed back on laws in California, as the Golden State has taken on an outsized role in advancing regulatory efforts.
Republican lawmakers have attempted to pass measures blocking state AI laws twice in the past six months — via Trump’s tax and spending bill this summer and via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) late last month — but both efforts ultimately fell short due to GOP infighting.
The Republican fight over AI is reflective of the intraparty divide on other issues that pit Trump’s working-class base against the business wing of the GOP.
“For people like Bannon and others, it’s about the displacement of the working class,” the Republican lobbyist said.
Check out the full report at TheHill.com this weekend.
