In an opinion essay, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis argues that President Trump’s new executive order aims to preempt a patchwork of state AI rules, echoing the 1990s light-touch approach credited with fostering the early internet. He contends that with China accelerating investment in AI tied to surveillance and military uses, the U.S. risks “regulating itself into defeat” if it allows fragmented oversight to slow innovation. At the same time, he warns that sidelining states without swift, substantive federal action could leave a regulatory vacuum—exposing consumers to deepfakes, opaque algorithmic decisions, and job displacement. The piece calls for clear federal guardrails that protect innovation and civil liberties, arguing that repeating the internet era’s “move fast, fix later” posture could win the AI race while eroding the country’s strategic and societal foundations.
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