GoKawiilThe White House's new policy framework for regulating generative artificial intelligence, released Friday, covers many areas, but one thing is clear: President Donald Trump wants the federal government to set the rules. And those rules appear to fall far short of what consumer and privacy advocates argue is necessary.
The generative AI revolution has been underway for years, and US legislation is slow to catch up. This is despite the growing awareness of AI's harms and challenges: chatbots' dangerous impacts on mental health and child development, the widespread legal wrangling over the copyright protections, the dangerous spread of deepfakes and AI-powered scams, to name a few.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced the new policy package, called The Trump America AI Act, in Congress on Thursday. The Tennessee Republican's bill is an attempt to codify a vision based on Trump's 2025 AI Action Plan, while delving into more legal specifics and providing guidance on implementing new laws (or changing existing ones).
Trump has maintained that the federal government should be responsible for regulating the AI industry -- and that requiring AI companies to comply with 50 different sets of state laws would prevent the US from "winning" the global AI race. However, a proposal to temporarily ban states from regulating AI failed back in July, when it was removed at the last minute from the massive budget bill, known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."
Now, the White House is doubling down on its claim to be in charge, with a few exceptions. The plan addresses some of the biggest concerns people have about AI: job loss, copyright chaos for creators, rapidly expanding infrastructure such as data centers and the protection of vulnerable groups like children. But critics say it doesn't go far enough to regulate the fast-growing AI industry.
"It is light on protection and heavy on promotion of dangerous AI systems," Alan Butler, president and executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in a statement. "The American people deserve better, and Congress should do better than this."
The White House's new proposed AI laws
The White House's 2026 AI proposal says Congress should not create a new governing body to oversee AI rules, but should let existing agencies and subject-matter experts regulate as they see fit.
Protecting children: This is one area where the federal government won't prevent states from creating laws. And many state governments are already leading the charge, especially in regulating romantic or companion chatbots.
The plan highlights protecting kids from AI-powered deepfakes, a huge issue highlighted in AI creating child sexual abuse material. Shielding young people from the ill effects of AI is an ongoing battle, with several high-profile cases of teenagers using AI for self-harm and suicide.
... continue reading