The order creates a Justice Department task force to challenge state AI laws and directs the Commerce Department to pull future broadband funding from states that pass "onerous" legislation. President Donald Trump signed a highly anticipated executive order on Thursday that sets in motion a plan to establish a national regulatory framework for artificial intelligence while undercutting states' abilities to enact their own rules. The order, titled "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence," creates an AI litigation task force within the Justice Department to directly challenge state AI laws the administration finds to conflict with federal policy. It also directs the Department of Commerce to craft guidelines that could make states ineligible for future broadband funding if they pass "onerous" AI laws. The push for sweeping federal preemption of state AI laws has largely been fueled by AI investors, conservative policy shops, and tech industry trade groups.

The White House announced a $50 million investment in artificial intelligence research to predict cancer progression and minimize treatment side effects in children.

Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Friday intended to spur a "nuclear energy renaissance" through the construction of new reactors he said would satisfy the electricity demands of data centers for artificial intelligence and other emerging industries. The orders represented the president's latest foray into the policy underlying America's electricity supply. Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office over and moved to undo a ban implemented by Joe Biden on new natural gas export terminals and expand oil and gas drilling in Alaska. Nuclear does not carry oil and gas's carbon emissions, but produces radioactive waste that the United States lacks a facility to permanently store. Some environmental groups have safety concerns over the reactors and their supply chain. Trump signed four orders intended to speed up the approval of nuclear reactors for defense and AI purposes, reform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the goal of quadrupling production of electricity over the next 25 years, revamp the regulatory process to have three experimental reactors operating by 4 July 2026 and boost investment in the technology's industrial base.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump says Warren should focus'more on her heritage' than investigating his businesses Trump: People saying wall hasn't made difference in El Paso are'full of crap' GOP promotes Trump line mirroring Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign slogan MORE on Monday signed an executive order laying out a national plan to boost artificial intelligence (AI) technology, amid growing concern that the U.S. is losing out to China. The executive order directs federal agencies to prioritize and set aside funding for AI programs, while opening up the way for researchers and developers to access more government data. "Continued American leadership in Artificial Intelligence is of paramount importance to maintaining the economic and national security of the United States," Trump said in a statement, accompanying the order. The order directs all federal agencies to look into launching and expanding AI initiatives that promote their missions. The order also asks a coalition of government bodies to develop a set of national "regulatory" standards around AI, which the U.S. currently lacks.

America may be the current world leader in artificial intelligence, but its place is anything but assured. While nations around the world have launched programs to stimulate AI development, the Trump administration has practically ignored the topic. That changed today, when President Tump signed an executive order creating the "American AI Initiative" -- a high-level strategy guiding AI development within the US. But the program includes no new funding for AI development, and is thin on details. The administration is not sharing any timelines for reaching its stated goals, and is instead promising a more detailed plan some time in the coming six months.

After the President largely avoided the subject of AI in his SOTU address, a new directive could shape the nascent sector as it spills into everything from healthcare to military warfare. Trump's "American AI Initiative" directs federal agencies to prioritize AI in their research and development, however it did not announce any specific funding assigned for these goals. It also includes language aimed at increasing efforts to educate American workers using a mix of programs spearheaded by the National Council for the American Worker and AI fellowships care of federal agencies. In addition, it calls upon the government to improve access to cloud computing and data-sharing for the development of new AI systems. The executive order comes amid growing concerns over China's push to become a global AI superpower and the threat of job losses in the impending age of automation. The initiative also urges federal branches to establish a regulatory framework for AI across industrial sectors.