WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass a federal standard governing oversight of artificial intelligence and warned that varied regulation at the state level risked slowing the development of an emerging technology that’s critical to the U.S. economy.

In a post on his Truth Social network Tuesday, the president urged lawmakers to act quickly, and floated the idea of including an AI measure as part of upcoming defense policy legislation.

“Investment in AI is helping to make the U.S. Economy the “HOTTEST” in the World — But overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Growth Engine," Trump said in a social media post, advocating for “one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes.”

Trump said the moratorium could also be passed as a separate bill.

“If we don’t, then China will easily catch us in the AI race,” Trump said.

Members of the White House administration have been making a push for federal preemption in the past several weeks directly with members of Congress, according to people familiar with the matter who discussed the effort on the condition of anonymity. Leading AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic have been supportive of a federal framework for AI regulation over state legislation in the past.

Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang has made a similar argument publicly, saying that China’s streamlined regulation gives Beijing an advantage over the U.S. in the global AI race. On Tuesday, Trump insisted during an appearance with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that the U.S. was still “leading by a lot” in the competition.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, told Punchbowl News earlier this week that Republican leaders were “looking at” adding the language into the National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation, which sets the Pentagon’s budget and expenditures, often becomes a vehicle for other policy measures.

The Senate blocked an attempt to include the measure in a July budget bill, with opponents saying it could thwart attempts to implement child safety and copyright controls on the emerging technology. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed a bill earlier this year requiring large AI developers to disclose security protocols.

One version of the bill discussed would make AI companies exempt from state laws for up to five years if they agree to federal standards around transparency and child safety, according to people familiar with the matter.

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(With assistance from Shirin Ghaffary and Emily Birnbaum.)

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