Trump Drafting Executive Order that Could Block State AI Laws, Replace with Federal Laws
Elizabeth Delaney
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By Elizabeth Delaney, Crosswalk.com
Right around the middle of the 20th century, there was a technology race dubbed “the space race” that was especially intense between the United States and Russia. Fast forward to the 21st century, and the race that has governments wringing their hands is the AI race.
AI Related Executive Order and American Leadership
Back in January, President Trump was moving at such warp speed to crank out the executive orders that even mainstream media couldn’t keep up. A high-level executive order about AI that was released was entitled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.”
In a nutshell, the stated intent of that order was to keep America at the forefront of AI technology while also keeping that technology free from “ideological bias or engineered social agendas.”
It called on the heads of several executive departments and agencies to create policy guidelines that would “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.”
An action plan to accomplish this was supposed to be developed and submitted to the president within 180 days of the issuing of that executive order. The document that came forth from that order is simply entitled, “AI.gov,” and also references a more detailed document entitled, “Winning the Race, America’s AI Action Plan.”
Trump was also pushing for this in his first term as president, and the details of that effort can be read in a document entitled “Artificial Intelligence for the American People.”
Reining in the States
Now, in an apparent attempt to pick up where he left off, Trump is working to do some reining in and prevent states that have leaders with WOKE agendas from taking AI in a wrong direction. So he is considering an executive order that would allow the federal government to sue state governments and withhold federal funding over AI laws, according to The Hill.
The order would allow Attorney General Pam Bondi to create an “AI Litigation Task Force” that would be empowered to challenge state AI measures that violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
In addition, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would be tasked with deciding if state AI laws are in contradiction to the Trump administration’s policies. He would also create a policy that would deem states ineligible for certain broadband funding if they are in violation of those policies.
However, the order has not yet been released and is still under consideration, according to Politico.
What Christian Leaders are Saying about AI
In an open letter to Trump, a group of Evangelical leaders cautioned Trump to take steps regarding the responsible development of technology, especially AI. The group made a point of stating that they are “pro-science” and that they are also “pro-economic prosperity and economic leadership for America and our friends. We do not want to see the AI revolution slowing, but we want to see the AI revolution accelerating responsibly,” the letter obtained by Fox News said.
They went on to note that, “As people of faith, we believe we should rapidly develop powerful AI tools that help cure diseases and solve practical problems, but not autonomous smarter-than-human machines that nobody knows how to control.”
The Baptist Press calls on all Christians to step up and be intentional about influencing new technologies as they come forth rather than reacting after those technologies have already affected churches and communities. Christians can speak out about the importance of new technologies being used with a positive focus for the improvement of humankind in areas such as AI-scientific research in the medical field, curing diseases, developing new treatments, as well as for the safety of society and dignity of human life in all of its stages from conception to life’s natural end.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker/Staff
Elizabeth Delaney has been a freelance content writer for over 20 years and has enjoyed having her prose published in both the non-fiction and fiction markets. She has written various types of content, including Christian articles, healthy lifestyle, blog posts, business topics, news articles, product descriptions, and some fiction. She is also a singer-songwriter-musician. When she is not busy with writing or music, she enjoys spending time with friends or family and doing fun social activities such as hiking, swing dancing, concerts, and other activities.
