Six months after President Donald Trump warned states against regulating artificial intelligence, lawmakers across the country are advancing narrower, targeted bills governing how AI is built and used—particularly around chatbots, child protections, and high-stakes decisions like hiring and lending. With Congress stalled and the White House urging federal preemption but showing no signs of enforcing threats to challenge state laws or cut funding, statehouses are moving ahead on their own.
Illinois is poised to require independent audits of developers’ safety protocols for advanced models, expanding on measures in California and New York aimed at averting catastrophic misuse. Colorado now mandates disclosure when AI influences consequential decisions, while Connecticut and other states are tightening rules on chatbots, especially those interacting with minors, and pushing content provenance requirements. Some GOP-led states, including Florida and Utah, have slowed efforts amid White House pressure, but bipartisan votes elsewhere signal growing appetite to fill the regulatory void. For industry, the result is a patchwork of compliance obligations—lighter than earlier, sweeping proposals but increasingly unavoidable.
