The results of the 2024 U.S. election are expected to have significant implications for AI legislation and regulation at both the federal and state level.
Like the first Trump Administration, the second Trump Administration is likely to prioritize AI innovation, R&D, national security uses of AI, and U.S. private sector investment and leadership in AI. Although recent AI model testing and reporting requirements established by the Biden Administration may be halted or revoked, efforts to promote private-sector innovation and competition with China are expected to continue. And while antitrust enforcement involving large technology companies may continue in the Trump Administration, more prescriptive AI rulemaking efforts such as those launched by the current leadership of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) are likely to be curtailed substantially.
In the House and Senate, Republican majorities are likely to adopt priorities similar to those of the Trump Administration, with a continued focus on AI-generated deepfakes and prohibitions on the use of AI for government surveillance and content moderation.
At the state level, legislatures in California, Texas, Colorado, Connecticut, and others likely will advance AI legislation on issues ranging from algorithmic discrimination to digital replicas and generative AI watermarking.
This post covers the effects of the recent U.S. election on these areas and what to expect as we enter 2025. (Click here for our summary of the 2024 election implications on AI-related industrial policy and competition with China.)
The White House
As stated in the Republican Party’s 2024 platform and by the president-elect on the campaign trail, the incoming Trump Administration plans to revoke President Biden’s October 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (“2023 AI EO”). The incoming administration also is expected to halt ongoing agency rulemakings related to AI, including a Department of Commerce rulemaking to implement the 2023 AI EO’s dual-use foundation model reporting and red-team testing requirements. President-elect Trump’s intention to re-nominate Russell Vought as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) suggests that a light-touch approach to AI regulation may be taken across all federal agencies. As OMB Director in the prior Trump Administration, Vought issued a memo directing federal agencies to “avoid regulatory or non-regulatory actions that needlessly hamper AI innovation and growth.”
Recent OMB efforts to implement the 2023 AI EO also are likely to be narrowed or revoked, including the “minimum risk management practices” for federal agencies’ use and procurement of rights- and safety-impacting AI established under two OMB memoranda issued earlier this year. In contrast to these detailed testing, documentation, and incident reporting requirements, the incoming administration is likely to return to the approach of the first Trump Administration’s Executive Order No. 13960, which set out nine guiding principles for federal agencies when designing, developing, acquiring, or using AI, including transparency and accountability.
It is unclear how the Trump Administration will act on the over 100 other federal agency actions that have been completed pursuant to the 2023 AI EO. Some of these initiatives, such as the National AI Research Resource (“NAIRR”) pilot and the U.S. AI Safety Institute, have attracted bipartisan and industry support and could be maintained by the Trump Administration or codified in future legislation like the CREATE AI Act (H.R. 5077, S. 2714), which advanced out of its respective House and Senate committees earlier this year. Initiatives related to AI innovation, defense, and workforce talent also may continue, potentially under a new executive order or guidance similar to the first Trump Administration’s Executive Order No. 13859, which established an action plan to protect U.S. AI technologies from competitors and foreign adversaries, directed federal agencies to prioritize AI R&D, and called for increased access to federal data and computing resources for AI research. We previously covered EO 13859 here.
Although other aspects of the incoming administration’s AI policy agenda remain to be seen, the administration can be expected to take a more industry-friendly approach, as signaled by the president-elect’s announcement of venture capitalist David Sacks as White House “AI & Crypto Czar” and head of the Presidential Council of Advisors for Science & Technology. Other AI policy priorities for the incoming administration could include expanding energy supply to power AI data centers, as the president-elect indicated on the campaign trail and in his announcement of South Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (R) as his nominee for Interior Secretary and as head of the National Energy Council. Additionally, Vice President-elect JD Vance has expressed support for open-source AI models to address concentration in the AI industry. Vivek Ramaswamy, co-chair of the yet-to-be-established “Department of Government Efficiency,” has called for the replacement of legacy technology across the federal government, which could entail increased acquisition and deployment of AI tools by federal agencies.
FTC and DOJ Enforcement
In light of the president-elect’s announcement that he will name Commissioner Andrew Ferguson as Chair of the FTC, replacing incumbent Chair Lina Khan, agency efforts to regulate AI through rulemaking under Section 5 of the FTC Act likely will be wound down. While Commissioner Ferguson has stated that he will “focus antitrust enforcement against Big Tech monopolies, especially those companies engaged in unlawful censorship,” he has also promised to “end the FTC’s attempt to become an AI regulator” and “terminate all initiatives investigating . . . AI ‘bias.’” Similarly, although the nomination of Gail Slater, a former FTC attorney and policy advisor to Vice President-elect Vance, as Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division suggests that scrutiny of “Big Tech” under current-Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter will remain an important enforcement priority, it is unclear whether the DOJ will continue to focus on AI in other enforcement actions.
The 119th Congress
With Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, incoming-Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) are likely to focus Congress’s AI policy agenda on the issues described above, particularly on maintaining U.S. advantages over China in AI models and applications critical to national security and defense. Members of Congress also may pursue AI legislation that enjoyed bipartisan support in the current Congress, including legislation to codify NAIRR and legislation sponsored by Sen. Thune to codify the U.S. AI Safety Institute. Congress also is expected to continue legislative efforts to address AI-generated digital replicas and nonconsensual online deepfakes, such as the TAKE IT DOWN Act (S.4569), introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)—the likely incoming chair of the Senate Commerce Committee—and passed by the Senate on December 3. Other potential AI issues for the GOP majority include requirements for federal agency uses of AI and energy infrastructure improvements to support AI development. On November 14, for example, incoming-Chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Brett Guthrie (R-KY) signed a letter urging the Secretary of Energy to consider the “critical energy infrastructure needs” of AI systems.
On December 17, the bipartisan House AI Task Force released its final report on principles, recommendations, and policy proposals for congressional policymaking on AI. The report’s recommendations, including establishing nationwide protections against digital replicas and deepfakes, considering legislation to address safety risks of advanced AI, and establishing a commission to study cross-sector AI regulation and federal preemption, may shed light on the AI policy goals of the 119th Congress.
State Legislatures
In 2024, states enacted dozens of AI laws related to deepfakes, digital replicas, generative AI, synthetic content labeling, and high-risk AI systems. State lawmakers can be expected to continue to pursue legislation on these and other AI issues in 2025—a trend that could be accelerated by a slowdown in prescriptive AI regulatory efforts at the federal level.
In Texas, Missouri, California, and other states, lawmakers already have drafted or pre-filed AI legislation ahead of the 2025 legislative sessions, including AI consumer protection legislation similar to the Colorado AI Act (SB 205) enacted earlier this year. State lawmakers also are likely to pursue public safety regulations for large AI models in 2025, similar to the Safe & Secure Innovation for Frontier AI Models Act (SB 1047) passed by the California legislature in August. Following California Governor Gavin Newsom (D)’s veto of SB 1047, supporters of the legislation indicated that they would continue to push for similar guardrails in 2025.
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