TY - JOUR
T1 - Artificial Intelligence’s Future Is in the States, if the Federal Government Allows
AU - Mallinson, Daniel J.
AU - Robles, Pedro
AU - Best, Eric
AU - Azevedo, Lauren
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CSF Associates: Publius, Inc. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact [email protected]. This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights)
PY - 2026/6/1
Y1 - 2026/6/1
N2 - Governments around the world continue to grapple with the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Within the United States, both the federal government and states have engaged in a rush of AI-related legislation since the end of the Obama administration. Until now, the future of American AI policy appeared within state hands, as the federal government has only provided weak and broad AI governance outlines. However, there have been serious proposals in Washington to preempt state AI regulations, without replacing them with a comprehensive federal framework. This article considers the history of national and state AI policy over the last decade. It does so in the context of potential federal preemption and discusses the implications of stopping the AI policy experiments currently occurring in the states. Moreover, the article discusses how this conflict between the states and federal government fits into recent trends observed in American federalism.
AB - Governments around the world continue to grapple with the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Within the United States, both the federal government and states have engaged in a rush of AI-related legislation since the end of the Obama administration. Until now, the future of American AI policy appeared within state hands, as the federal government has only provided weak and broad AI governance outlines. However, there have been serious proposals in Washington to preempt state AI regulations, without replacing them with a comprehensive federal framework. This article considers the history of national and state AI policy over the last decade. It does so in the context of potential federal preemption and discusses the implications of stopping the AI policy experiments currently occurring in the states. Moreover, the article discusses how this conflict between the states and federal government fits into recent trends observed in American federalism.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045225239
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105045225239#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1093/publius/pjag017
DO - 10.1093/publius/pjag017
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105045225239
SN - 0048-5950
VL - 56
SP - 733
EP - 761
JO - Publius: The Journal of Federalism
JF - Publius: The Journal of Federalism
IS - 3
ER -