The president has said letting states create a “patchwork” of AI regulations would impede U.S. efforts to lead the world in AI development.
The executive order says it would not preempt “otherwise lawful” AI laws relating to child safety protections, but does not include additional details.
In Wisconsin, recently enacted state laws governing AI include a requirement for campaign ads to include a disclaimer if they use artificial intelligence, an expansion of the definition of child pornography to include AI-generated content and a ban on distributing sexually explicit “deepfakes” without consent.
Evers said he is proud Wisconsin has led the way “to address dangerous and harmful effects caused by emerging technologies like AI” in a bipartisan fashion.
“Mr. President, it is breathtaking for you to threaten to punish and withhold federal funding from states like Wisconsin for taking decisive, bipartisan action to pass common-sense policies that protect Wisconsinites from being potentially being sexually exploited using AI-generated materials or being deceived by political ads made using AI,” Evers wrote.
“Put simply, doing so could reopen the door for bad actors in Wisconsin to resume reprehensible behavior we have worked to criminalize while leaving fewer options for local law enforcement to be able to hold those bad actors accountable. This is an untenable and unacceptable result,” Evers wrote.