What happened
Trump administration issued memo to Utah Republican lawmakers demanding withdrawal of proposed AI safety bill. Directive escalates conflict between White House and state-level legislators over AI governance. Memo targets specific safety requirements and liability frameworks within Utah legislation. Move follows December 2025 policy targeting state AI laws and funding. It signals federal push to centralise AI policy and prevent patchwork of state-level safety mandates.
Why it matters
Compliance officers and legal counsel face immediate uncertainty because federal intervention disrupts state-level liability frameworks. Platform engineers must pause development of state-specific safety guardrails as White House enforces deregulatory agenda. This follows December 2025 policy targeting state AI laws and Ron DeSantis’s February 4 challenge to federal oversight. Therefore, founders must prioritise federal lobbying over state compliance. Pattern confirms shift toward federal preemption, reducing local regulatory costs but increasing political risk as result.
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