Bipartisan House Draft Proposes Federal AI Rules

A bipartisan pair of House lawmakers released a comprehensive draft framework for federal artificial intelligence regulation on Thursday, a proposal that would temporarily override state laws governing AI development while imposing new safety and transparency requirements on leading technology companies. The 269-page discussion draft, titled the Great American Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026, was unveiled by Representatives Jay Obernolte, a Republican from California, and Lori Trahan, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

The central and most contentious provision would preempt state laws specifically regulating the development of AI models for a period of three years, after which the preemption would sunset. The lawmakers stated this is intended to create a unified national standard and prevent a fragmented regulatory landscape that could stifle innovation. The draft specifies that state laws governing the use or deployment of AI would not be affected. According to an accompanying document, this would supersede certain state laws, including a California statute requiring developers to publish summaries of training data and portions of another related to content watermarking.