White House Unveils National AI Policy to Sweep Aside State Regulations

The White House unveiled a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence Friday (March 20), saying that this set of legislative recommendations is designed to help American industry innovate and American people benefit from the technology.

The framework aims to provide a consistent national policy, the White House said in a Friday press release.

“Importantly, this framework can succeed only if it is applied uniformly across the United States,” the White House said in the release. “A patchwork of conflicting state laws would undermine American innovation and our ability to lead in the global AI race.”

The framework’s objectives include protecting children and empowering parents by providing account controls, safeguarding and strengthening communities by making it easier to secure permits for on-site power generation at data centers, and supporting creators by respecting intellectual property rights while also allowing fair use by AI.

The framework also calls for protecting free speech by preventing AI systems from being used to silence political expression, enabling American dominance in AI by removing barriers to innovation, and developing an AI-ready workforce by expanding workforce development and skills training programs.

“The Administration looks forward to working with Congress in the coming months to turn this framework into legislation that the President can sign,” the White House said in the release.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December 2025 that directed the federal government to establish a new national approach to AI and to push back against state-by-state AI rules the administration said are slowing AI innovation.

It was reported Tuesday (March 17) that AI companies and investors have clamored for Congress to enact a single, federal standard that would override the growing patchwork of often conflicting state AI regulations.

Currently, around 20 states have passed comprehensive privacy laws covering AI and several others have passed more limited measures.

It was reported in February that Utah had become the latest flashpoint between states and the White House over AI regulations. As a bill regulating AI was being considered by the state’s legislature, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs sent a letter to a state senator saying that the bill is “unfixable” and “goes against the Administration’s AI Agenda.”

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