The AI Regulation Dilemma: Spur Innovation, or Guardrails? — Where Are We and the Impact of Trump 2

The Trump 2 AI agenda prioritizes US leadership by opposing regulation on bias and frontier AI risks, favoring innovation and AI expansion. With comprehensive federal AI regulation unlikely, states are advancing AI laws on bias, harmful content and transparency (e.g., Colorado). Meanwhile, the EU AI Act imposes global obligations. The emerging patchwork of state rules will burden US companies more than a unified federal approach, undermining Trump’s deregulatory goals. Ironically, the Trump agenda may accelerate state-level regulation and impede innovation. A light federal AI law preempting state rules is politically unlikely, leaving US companies with a fragmented landscape similar to privacy regulation where the EU AI Act — in the role of GDPR — has set the stage, and the states are asserting themselves with various incremental requirements. Important developments to then cover: EU GPAI Code of Practice (effective 8/2/25), newly enacted state laws, Korean AI law, Japan — if final.