National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence: Legislative Recommendations (White House)

Summary

Released on March 20, 2026, this four-page set of non-binding legislative recommendations from the White House asks Congress to act in seven areas: child protection, communities and infrastructure (including the Ratepayer Protection Pledge), intellectual property, free speech, innovation, workforce, and preemption of state AI laws. Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens in favour of a minimally burdensome national standard, while leaving states their general police powers (including laws protecting children, preventing fraud and protecting consumers), zoning authority over AI infrastructure, and rules for their own use of AI. States should not regulate AI development or penalize developers for third parties' unlawful use of their models. The framework recommends against creating any new federal AI rulemaking body and favours sector-specific oversight by existing regulators and industry-led standards. It does not itself create obligations or direct agencies to act.

Key dates

1. March 20, 2026Issued
2. October 16, 2026Checked against sources
3. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: January 15, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens to ensure a minimally burdensome national standard consistent with these recommendations, not fifty discordant ones.

   Supports: Preemption recommendation

   Congress should not create any new federal rulemaking body to regulate AI, and should instead support development and deployment of sector-specific AI applications through existing regulatory bodies with subject matter expertise and through industry-led standards.

   Supports: No new AI regulator; sector regulators and industry standards

   States should not be permitted to regulate AI development, because it is an inherently interstate phenomenon with key foreign policy and national security implications.

   Supports: Limits on state regulation

   National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence: Legislative Recommendations The White House Primary source

2. The White House released a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence (Framework) on March 20, 2026, outlining legislative recommendations intended to guide U.S. Congress as it considers federal artificial intelligence (AI) legislation.

   Supports: Release date

   The Framework is not a binding document and does not, on its own, create new legal obligations or direct agencies to undertake specific regulatory actions.

   Supports: Non-binding status

   White House Releases a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence Holland & Knight Reporting or analysis