Public Citizen Defends State Authority to Regulate AI

A debate has intensified over whether U.S. states should be permitted to regulate artificial intelligence in the absence of meaningful federal legislation from the United States Congress. J.B. Branch, AI Governance and Technology Policy Counsel for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, argues that states must serve as first responders to address immediate harms, including AI-enabled fraud against older adults, nonconsensual intimate imagery of children, and deceptive political content ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Branch rejects claims from large technology firms, such as NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft, that a patchwork of state laws stifles innovation or creates impossible compliance burdens. He notes that these companies possess the resources to comply with varying standards and frequently adopt California's strictest laws as a national baseline. He further asserts that tech firms are not passive victims of regulation but actively shape legislation through extensive lobbying, citing OpenAI's efforts to influence chatbot legislation for teens in California.

Branch describes federal efforts to block state-level protections as a failure of leadership that leaves citizens vulnerable. He supports the necessity of these rules by citing that 97% of Americans support AI safety regulations and noting that the AI sector continues to see record market capitalizations and infrastructure growth despite state-level interventions.