President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that he will sign an executive order this week to create a single federal framework for artificial intelligence regulation, effectively stripping states of the power to enforce their own AI laws. The directive aims to replace the current patchwork of 50 different state rules with “ONE RULE” that would apply uniformly across the United States.

According to a draft obtained by Bloomberg Government, the order would authorise the Department of Justice to file lawsuits against states whose AI regulations are considered unconstitutional or excessively burdensome, and could even withhold federal funding as leverage. Trump has repeatedly argued that requiring companies to obtain separate approvals from every state is strangling innovation and putting America’s technological edge at risk, particularly against competitors like China.

Supporters within the administration and the tech industry maintain that a unified national standard is essential for rapid AI deployment in areas such as data centres, energy projects, and chip exports. They contend that the existing state-by-state approach forces companies to divert massive resources toward legal compliance rather than research and development, ultimately slowing the country’s progress in the global race for AI supremacy.

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The announcement has immediately sparked fierce opposition from governors across the political spectrum. Republican leaders in states like Florida and Arkansas have vowed to defend state sovereignty, while Democratic strongholds such as California and Colorado, which have already enacted comprehensive AI consumer-protection laws, warn that federal pre-emption could eliminate vital safeguards against bias, privacy violations, and misuse of the technology.

With legal challenges virtually guaranteed and the executive order expected within days, Trump’s aggressive centralisation of AI authority marks a decisive shift in how the world’s most powerful economy will govern one of its most transformative technologies.

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