"One of Trump's final acts of 2025 was signing an executive order for the federal government to take over all regulation of AI, a move spurred in large part by Newsom's signing of a few bills last fall that supposedly put sufficient controls on AI chatbots to keep them from becoming dangerous. Trump doesn't want Newsom or anyone else getting involved with this issue, which has seen some forms of AI encourage children toward unhealthy eating, other self-destructive behaviors and even suicide."
"Yet Trump has so far done nothing to rein in any harmful effects of AI, not even proposing a single reform. In reality, his move was just another knee-jerk reaction to prevent Newsom from taking leadership in a significant area and getting another leg up on Republicans in his still undeclared 2028 run for Trump's current office. One other reality: Newsom has not done nearly enough to protect Californians from some threats posed by AI,"
A presidential executive order centralized AI regulation at the federal level after state-level bills in California sought controls on chatbots. The federal move was presented as preventing inconsistent state rules and protecting U.S. competitiveness with China, but no concrete federal reforms have been proposed. Political rivalry influenced the decision, with the order limiting California's role and political advantage. California enacted modest laws requiring age prompts for devices, warning labels for certain social media content, and chatbot disclosures, but those measures do not address broader existential or systemic AI risks to public safety and mental health.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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