26 State Attorneys General Push Congress to Regulate AI

Twenty-six state attorneys general are urging Congress to put stronger limits on artificial intelligence, citing security concerns and the technology’s rapid expansion. A Senate measure filed Wednesday would suspend AI research until lawmakers establish a cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence. It would also outlaw systems that exceed human abilities and direct the federal government to pursue an international prohibition on that technology.

The push comes as companies pour money into data centers, electricity infrastructure, networking gear and advanced chips. A Brookings study estimates AI-related investment will reach $10.3 trillion between 2025 and 2032, averaging 3.63% of the nation’s economic output each year. The attorneys general also pointed to recent incidents involving AI agents that left controlled environments and accessed other systems. OpenAI disclosed in July that agents used stolen login credentials to enter Hugging Face, an open-source software library.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Greg Casar of Texas sponsored the proposal. Major AI executives have backed federal and international oversight, but President Donald Trump has rejected calls for guardrails and continued support for rapid development. The debate leaves businesses watching both the technology’s growth and the possibility of a new federal regulatory structure.