White House eyes Friday rollout for AI framework

The White House is expected to send Congress its ideas for regulating AI on Friday, sources familiar with the matter told Axios, but policy disagreements on the Hill are far from resolved. Why it matters: Republicans are looking to the White House for direction on AI, but its plan is likely to run into the same sticking points that have stalled action for years.

Those include how to protect children online and whether to preempt state laws that conflict with the federal standards they're trying to set. Pressure is mounting for Congress to act as states move ahead with laws that AI companies are increasingly comfortable living with.

What's inside: The White House is eyeing Friday to announce a legislative framework for federal AI rules, multiple sources familiar with the matter told Axios.

In addition to preemption, the framework is expected to cover child safety, communities, creators and censorship — "the four C's" outlined by White House AI czar David Sacks.

The White House has been working with Hill leadership on plans. The House Energy and Commerce and Senate Commerce Committees would have primary jurisdiction on any AI proposal.

Asked about involvement in the effort, committee spokesman Matt VanHyfte pointed Axios to an essay Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) wrote earlier this year outlining his key pillars to AI leadership: "dominance, deployment and safeguards." "We're excited to see what the White House releases, and wouldn't be surprised to see if it lines up with what Chairman Guthrie believes," VanHyfte said. "E&C is the tip of the spear when it comes to AI regulation in the House." Blair Taylor, a spokesperson for Senate Commerce, told Axios that "we look forward to working with the White House and members of the Committee to advance meaningful AI legislation that encompasses a number of priorities, like those outlined in the Cruz AI framework."

The big picture: The White House is trying to pair a national AI framework that would preempt state laws with a slate of kids' online safety bills that have bipartisan interest.

But the House and Senate remain far apart on the details of those proposals, making any package a tough lift. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Friction point: The latest package of kids' safety bills that the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced included a version of the Kids Online Safety Act that doesn't pass muster in the Senate.

The House version of the bill omits a "duty of care" that would require platforms to take reasonable steps to mitigate harms stemming from design features — a provision senators in both parties have insisted on. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday released a discussion draft of the TRUMP AI Act, which rolls together a number of Senate proposals, including her version of the children's online safety bill, and would codify many parts of Trump's executive orders on AI.

The intrigue: Some major AI companies are now signaling that they are more comfortable with a patchwork of state-by-state laws in the face of congressional inaction, as long as they start to align.

OpenAI's Chris Lehane wrote in a blog this week that "in the absence of a national framework, states should align around the emerging model in California and New York." Google president of global affairs Kent Walker told Axios in an interview this week that state coordination on AI laws is welcomed and California's SB53 and New York's RAISE Act are "manageable frameworks."

The bottom line: The pressure is on for politicians to look like they're taking meaningful steps toward regulating AI ahead of the midterms.

But the White House's biggest moves have been around squashing state-level efforts and Congress is still stuck in the policy weeds.