1,500 AI Bills. 45 States. One Federal Framework Trying to Kill Them All.

Forty-five states have introduced over 1,500 AI-related bills in 2026. They cover everything from deepfake bans to algorithmic accountability to chatbot safety for children. Some states have already turned bills into law. Indiana, Utah, and Washington banned health insurers from using AI as the sole basis for claim denials. New York signed the RAISE Act into law in December, requiring frontier AI developers to publish safety protocols and report safety incidents.

Then the White House released a framework saying Congress should override all of it.

The Scoreboard

Here’s what AI law looks like right now, state by state:

Utah’s story is remarkable. The state legislature ran for just seven weeks and sent nine AI bills to the governor’s desk. That’s more AI legislation per session day than any other state.

Alex Bores, the New York assemblymember who wrote the RAISE Act, is now running for Congress on an AI platform. He has a computer science degree and spent time at Palantir before entering politics. He’s one of the few legislators in the country who can read a model card and write a bill about it. His eight-point national AI framework, released this month, reads like what the White House framework could have been if it prioritized consumer protection over industry deference.

The Federal Preemption Fight

The White House’s National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence, released March 20, asks Congress to preempt state laws that “impose undue burdens” on AI development. Narrow exceptions survive: child protection under traditional police powers, state zoning over AI infrastructure, rules governing a state’s own use of AI in procurement.

The DOJ followed up by creating an AI Litigation Task Force that will challenge state laws it deems unconstitutional.

This sets up the defining fight in American AI policy for the next two years. The states that moved first, New York, California, Utah, Arizona, built laws based on local needs and constituent testimony. The federal framework was written without that process. No town halls. No committee hearings with affected parents or teachers. No testimony from the CISOs dealing with shadow AI in their own organizations.

What This Fight Will Look Like

The preemption question will play out across three fronts:

Legal. The DOJ’s AI task force will file challenges to state laws it considers overreach. States will argue their laws fall under preserved exceptions (child safety, procurement, police powers). This lands in federal court.

Legislative. Congress has to actually pass a federal AI law for preemption to stick. The framework is a recommendation, not legislation. If Congress can’t agree on a comprehensive bill (it hasn’t so far), state laws remain in effect by default.

Political. Every state legislator who spent months building AI protections now watches Washington try to erase that work. Bores is turning this into a campaign issue. Other legislators will follow. AI regulation becomes a federalism fight, which means it becomes a states’ rights argument, which means it gets loud.

The outcome isn’t predetermined. States could win by moving faster than Congress. Congress could pass a preemptive bill. The DOJ could pick off individual state laws through litigation. Or the whole thing could stall, which is what usually happens with technology regulation in the United States.

What This Means for Everyday People

If you used a chatbot today, drove past a billboard generated by AI, applied for insurance that was partially underwritten by an algorithm, or talked to a customer service bot, AI regulation affects you. The question is who writes the rules: your state legislature, which held hearings and heard from your neighbors, or a federal framework written by people who prioritize making sure AI companies can operate without friction. That’s the fight. It’s happening now.

The Weekly Dispatch