‘Californication’ of AI Renews Republican Push for Federal Rules

Republicans are weighing a congressional response to dozens of states like California forging ahead with artificial intelligence regulation after lawmakers’ attempts to halt state action failed this summer.

“We must continue to produce the next-generation AI, and we cannot do it with a patchwork of conflicting state laws,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Thursday in a House Judiciary panel hearing he chaired on the “Californication” of AI regulation. Republicans who support the industry worry regulation will stifle development and cede the nation’s technological lead—which they consider critical for national defense—to geopolitical adversaries like China.

“We have worked to ...