Trump’s partisan AI pitch stalls on the Hill

President Donald Trump wants Congress to help the artificial intelligence industry by passing a law that blocks state efforts to regulate the technology. But his latest plan is getting a frosty reception on Capitol Hill. The President recently unveiled a proposal urging Congress to enact legislation that would preempt state AI laws. Unlike previous attempts by Republicans to block state rules, the plan also includes guardrails on how the technology affects electricity costs, kids safety, free speech and copyright. The new White House proposal is being hailed by the tech lobby, which fears a growing patchwork of tougher state AI rules that it says would stymie growth. But any attempt to pass a federal AI law will require bipartisan buy-in. And key lawmakers — including multiple Democrats seen as sympathetic to the tech sector’s worries about state AI laws — are dismissing the Republican proposal as a partisan play that ignores Democratic concerns and lets the AI industry off the hook, even as voters sour on the technology. The resistance on Capitol Hill raises fresh doubts about whether Congress can pass any national laws for the rapidly advancing technology as states move ahead on their own.