Ashley Gold

A growing number of Democrats are putting AI regulation at the heart of their 2026 campaigns, making it a defining issue for the next Congress. As AI's rapid advancement

Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat running for Senate in Michigan, is laying down a marker on kids' online privacy and AI as her primary race heats up. McMorrow, a state senator who 

President Trump's executive order targeting state AI laws faces long odds in the courts, setting the stage for the real battle

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has proposed significant changes to an AI bill that would mandate transparency measures from frontier AI companies. States are increasingly the venue of intense tech lobbying as they get more active on regulating AI, at the same time that President Trump pushes ahead with plans to stop them with an 

Pressure from President Donald Trump to block state-level AI regulation is falling short on Capitol Hill. The White House and Hill allies have landed on an AI preemption proposal and are pressing ahead, but time is running out and opposition is mounting. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) pitched straight preemption language to override most state-level AI laws without any additional federal regulatory framework, but sources described the proposal as "a long shot," "it's dead" and "it will fail." Democrats, Republicans, state-level

The MAGA populists who made breaking up Big Tech their rallying cry are losing momentum under President Trump's full-throated embrace of AI and cozy relations with the tech industry. The Trump administration would rather scrap regulations than create new ones in the age of AI, blunting whatever bipartisan unity remained around curbing tech's power. "The uncharitable read is these executives have just cozied up to the White House and are pulling the strings, and that's why there's been this shift," said Brad Littlejohn, director of programs at conservative populist think tank American Compas

David Edinger, Colorado's chief information officer, met with Colorado Gov Jared Polis (D) in 2024, and Gov Polis told him to embrace AI in state government. "I said, 'We've seen a few missteps from certain cities and states around the country. How do you feel about an approach that's more along the lines of bullish with guardrails?'" Edinger said.

States across the country are forging ahead with their own rules for AI procurement and use in an effort to boost government efficiency and improve public services. With Congress stalled on comprehensive AI legislation, several states are providing early examples of how governments can use the technology at scale. A sampling of state AI moves across the country:

HumanX and Humanrace Capital have tapped Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) to launch the AI Coalition, a nonprofit meant to help smaller AI companies and startups get access to Washington. Without a voice in D.C., startups fear they could be sidelined by the heavy compliance costs of inconsistent state laws or onerous federal rules.

The government wants AI to accelerate quickly in the U.S.—and it's about to take the first steps to remove as much red tape as possible, says Office of Science and Technology Policy director