Trump unveils national AI legislative framework; would limit state power

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Trump administration on Friday issued a legislative framework for a single national policy on artificial intelligence.

The goal, create uniform federal safety and security guardrails and prevent states from enacting their own AI rules. An effort spearheaded by President Trump, who has repeatedly said the U.S. needs to be the global leader.

America is the country that started the AI race and as President of the U.S. I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it. We're going to work hard, we're going to win it," Trump said in July 2025.

The new framework is broken up into six pillars. Including protecting children and empowering parents. Preventing censorship and protecting free speech. Enabling innovation. Educating Americans and developing an AI-ready workforce.

The President has been very forward leaning on this. He signed an EO in April, that created an AI education task force and the key is, how can we bring young people to be able to leverage this technology wherever they go in the future," Science Advisor to the President of the United States Michael Kratsios told Fox News in January.

The new framework is building on the broader 'America's AI Action Plan,' which was released in July. The plan originally focused on three pillars, including accelerating innovation, building AI infrastructure and leading in international AI diplomacy. In its press release on Friday, the administration said it wants to work with Congress in the coming months to convert the framework into a bill that Trump can sign.

Establish one national standard that guides all AI developers across the country so that these developers are not subjected to a whole host of different rules from 50 different states," Mark Beall, President of the AI Policy Network told The National News Desk.

Beall said the administration believes AI is pivotal for the future of the country and they're doing everything possible to accelerate it. But he says something notably absent is discussion on national security, including AI chips. Beall, pointing to Thursday's indictment of three people from the Justice Department, allegedly involved in a $2.5 billion conspiracy to smuggle Nvidia chips and servers to China.

When we're thinking about American AI dominance and we know that these AI chips are like the oil of the AI economy, the fact that these ships continue to flow to China, the fact that this framework doesn't directly address that, is something worth noting," Beall said.

But reaction to the new framework is mixed across party lines, leading many to believe that it won't be easy to move forward.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CN) wrote on 'X,' "The White House’s AI legislative framework is pathetic & a non-starter—a wish list for Meta & OpenAI with little to protect families worried about how AI will impact their livelihoods & safety." Meanwhile, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan,R-Ark., said, "Today, the Trump administration took a critical and commonsense step forward by releasing a framework that gives Congress a clear roadmap to capitalize on AI’s potential. AI has enormous positive potential to transform health care, grow our economy, and improve the lives of everyday Americans."

According to 'Enough Abuse,' as of 2026, every state has introduced some type of AI-related legislation. Including 45 states with current laws criminalizing AI-generated child sexual abuse material. The most common form of legislation.