Trump Signs Order to Establish National AI Rule

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday he will sign an executive order this week to establish a single national rulebook for artificial intelligence.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI… I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something,” signalling a push to override the patchwork of state AI statutes.

The plan follows a Reuters report that the White House is weighing an order that would pre‑empt state AI laws through lawsuits and by withholding federal funding. Industry giants such as OpenAI, Alphabet, Google, Meta Platforms and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz have lobbied for national standards, arguing that a fragmented legal landscape stifles innovation and could let China overtake the United States in AI development.

State leaders, however, stress the need for local guardrails. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently introduced an “AI Bill of Rights” covering data privacy, parental controls and consumer protection, while California mandates that major developers disclose risk‑mitigation plans for catastrophic AI scenarios. Other states have banned AI‑generated non‑consensual sexual imagery, unauthorized political deepfakes and discriminatory uses.

Last month Trump urged Congress to insert language into a defence bill that would block state AI regulations. The proposal met resistance from both Republican and Democratic attorneys general. “Congress can’t fail to create real safeguards and then block the states from stepping up,” North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, said.

The Senate voted 99‑1 against a similar effort to block state AI laws earlier this year, reflecting broad concern from state officials and consumer groups.

For Ghana, the development underscores the importance of aligning local AI initiatives with emerging global standards. The Ghanaian government is currently drafting its own AI strategy, and a US‑wide rulebook could shape future collaborations, investment flows and regulatory benchmarks for Ghanaian tech firms.

As the executive order moves toward signing, stakeholders will watch for the exact language that could reshape AI governance across the United States and influence international policy debates.

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