Source: Reuters

Reuters reports that the White House has temporarily paused a draft executive order that intended to preempt state-level laws regulating artificial intelligence. According to sources familiar with the matter on November 21, 2025, the administration has put a hold on the directive, which sought to establish a uniform national policy by overriding disparate state regulations through lawsuits and the withholding of federal funds. The draft order, aimed at preventing a patchwork of local AI laws, would have directed the Department of Justice to challenge state regulations deemed inconsistent with federal policy and instructed the Commerce Department to condition certain funding on states abstaining from enacting their own strict AI rules.

The decision to pause the order suggests internal deliberation or potential pushback regarding the aggressive strategy of federal preemption. The draft had proposed a task force specifically designed to invalidate state AI laws, particularly those in California and Colorado that mandate transparency and impact assessments. This pause leaves the regulatory landscape for AI companies fragmented, as they must continue to navigate varying compliance requirements across different states while the federal government reassesses its approach to creating a cohesive national framework for artificial intelligence governance.