OpenAI is pushing the Trump administration to stop individual states from enforcing their own AI regulations. The company is offering the government access to its AI models in return.
With hundreds of AI-related bills under review across the U.S., OpenAI argues that fragmented state laws will damage America’s leadership in artificial intelligence.
A 15-page policy document from OpenAI, released Thursday, outlines the proposal. The company warns that AI companies—both big and small—are at risk of being buried under state-level restrictions.
OpenAI suggests that if AI firms cooperate with federal authorities, they should be protected from conflicting state rules. The plan was submitted as part of OpenAI’s response to a White House request for public feedback on AI policy.
Trump canceled Biden’s previous executive order on AI and tasked his administration with creating a new AI Action Plan by July.
OpenAI pushes for federal AI control over state laws
Federal oversight of AI is weak, and states are stepping in. Lawmakers across the country are pushing new rules on deepfakes, AI bias, and model security. OpenAI sees this as a problem. The company believes that a mix of state-level laws will create chaos for AI firms, making it harder for the U.S. to compete with China’s AI industry.
Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, said the U.S. AI Safety Institute should become the main link between AI companies and the federal government. If companies work with the institute voluntarily, Lehane says they should get protections, including exemptions from state AI regulations.
“Part of the incentive for doing that ought to be that you don’t have to go through the state stuff, which is not going to be anywhere near as good as what the federal level would be,” Lehane said.
OpenAI’s proposal also calls for more investment in AI infrastructure. The company is pushing for copyright law changes, arguing that fair use is critical for U.S. AI developers. OpenAI and other firms are facing copyright lawsuits over the data used to train their models.
“If China’s developers have unfettered access to data and American companies are left without fair use access, the race for AI is effectively over,” OpenAI wrote in the policy document.
OpenAI wants access to government data for AI training
Along with protections from state laws, OpenAI is asking for access to government data. Lehane said this could include healthcare information. The company argues that more data will boost AI innovation, especially if shifting copyright rules cut off companies from existing training data.
Unlike many companies, OpenAI does not have problems with demand. Oliver Jay, OpenAI’s managing director of international strategy, spoke at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore.
“The biggest challenge right now is … converting that enthusiasm into real-life production-ready use case,” Jay said. “The gap is AI fluency — to know how to turn these concepts into actual business products.” He explained that working with AI models is not like traditional software. Companies need to build “guardrails” to control AI behavior.
ChatGPT’s usage has been skyrocketing. Singapore, Jay said, has the highest per-capita usage of ChatGPT in the world. Last October, OpenAI announced plans to open an office in Singapore. Jay also highlighted AI’s potential for Asian companies. He said this could be the first time firms from the region take a leadership role in global technology.
“This is the first time Asian companies, potentially, can take a leadership role on a global stage,” Jay said. “Traditionally, you see technology adopted in Silicon Valley first, and then Europe. … Now there could be a company from Asia that will be the most innovative.” The demand for AI is only growing.
“It’s a rollercoaster. We’re just trying to keep up with the demand,” Jay said.
Unlike previous tech shifts—such as cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS)—AI is seeing rapid, widespread adoption.
“Consumers, businesses, educators, developers—and you can see this in the metrics of one of our products, ChatGPT. ChatGPT recently exceeded 400 million weekly active users,” Jay added.
“AI is not this mercurial mystery. It’s actually ready,” he added. “Companies are being transformed already.”
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s most popular product, is a chatbot powered by deep learning. The company was co-founded in 2015 by Elon Musk and Sam Altman and is backed by major investors—including Microsoft.
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