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US AI Regulations

No federal AI statute yet — instead, a fast-growing patchwork of state laws, agency guidance, and sector-specific rules that a compliance program has to track state by state.

US state capitol building representing the state-by-state AI regulatory patchwork
Photo: Jayanth Muppaneni via Unsplash

The United States has taken a fundamentally different approach than the EU: rather than one comprehensive federal AI law, AI-specific obligations are emerging state by state, layered on top of existing federal law that already applies to AI systems even without AI-specific language — anti-discrimination law, consumer protection law, and sector regulators like the FTC and EEOC issuing guidance that treats AI harms as existing legal violations, not a new category of law.

For a company operating nationally, this means the actual compliance surface is the union of every state you operate in or sell into, not just where you're headquartered. Colorado's AI Act was the first comprehensive state-level statute; several other states have active legislation at varying stages. We track the ones with real legislative movement here, not every bill introduced and abandoned in a single session.

Jurisdictions

Recently updated

Telecom fraud analysts monitoring call traffic for suspicious AI-generated voice robocalls
Photo: Luke Chesser via Unsplash

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FCC Rules on AI-Generated Robocalls and Voice Cloning

The FCC's February 2024 declaratory ruling confirmed that an AI-generated voice counts as an 'artificial voice' under the TCPA, closing an argument a political operative tried to use against a wave of AI-cloned robocalls. A separate rule requiring calls to disclose AI use is still pending, not in force.
Governome Editorial Team · 7 min read
A digital health engineering team preparing an FDA regulatory submission for an AI-enabled diagnostic device
Photo: David Schultz via Unsplash

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FDA's Regulatory Pathway for AI/ML-Based Medical Devices

AI-enabled medical software doesn't get its own FDA lane. It goes through the same device pathways as a stethoscope or an infusion pump, with one addition built for software that keeps learning after it ships — and a real threshold question of whether it's regulated as a device at all.
Governome Editorial Team · 8 min read
An investment adviser's leadership team reviewing marketing claims about their AI-driven investment process
Photo: Campaign Creators via Unsplash

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SEC AI-Washing Enforcement: What Counts as a Violation

Four SEC cases so far — two investment advisers, a trading-fraud scheme, and a public company's SEC filings — show the agency doesn't need new legislation to charge AI-washing. It just applies the antifraud and disclosure rules that already existed to a specific, checkable capability claim that turned out to be false.
Governome Editorial Team · 8 min read
A credit union compliance team reviewing an AI-driven loan denial in an office
Photo: Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash

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CFPB and AI-Driven Credit Decisions: What Adverse Action Notices Require

A machine-learning underwriting model that can't explain why it declined an application isn't a legal gray area. ECOA has required a specific, accurate reason since 1974, and the CFPB spent 2022 and 2023 explaining exactly how that applies to AI — before withdrawing the explanation, not the rule, in 2025.
Governome Editorial Team · 9 min read
HR staff reviewing algorithmic hiring-tool results in a modern office
Photo: Md Ishak Rahman via Unsplash

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EEOC Guidance on AI in Employment Decisions, Explained

The EEOC's AI hiring guidance no longer exists on eeoc.gov. That doesn't mean algorithmic hiring discrimination became legal — it means the agency's own explanation of the law disappeared while the law itself stayed exactly as it was. Here's what the withdrawn guidance said, and what actually still applies.
Governome Editorial Team · 7 min read
A compliance team reviewing AI marketing claims for legal exposure
Photo: Walls.io via Unsplash

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FTC AI Enforcement: The Legal Theory Behind "Algorithmic Deception"

There's no federal AI enforcement statute, yet the FTC has extracted settlements — including forced deletion of the AI models themselves — from companies making AI claims. Here's the legal theory behind 'algorithmic deception,' the real case record, and what actually crosses the line.
Governome Editorial Team · 9 min read
US federal agency officials discussing AI enforcement policy
Photo: Noa van Ieperen via Unsplash

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US Federal AI Regulation: What Actually Exists Today

There's no single federal AI law in the US. Here's what federal agencies have actually said about AI, and why existing law already covers more AI use cases than most companies assume.
Governome Editorial Team · 3 min read

Frequently asked questions

Is there a federal AI law in the US?
Not a comprehensive one. Federal agencies — the FTC, EEOC, CFPB, and others — have issued guidance applying existing law to AI systems, and sector-specific rules (in areas like credit and employment) already cover a meaningful share of AI use cases. But there's no single federal AI statute comparable to the EU AI Act.
Which US state has the most developed AI law?
Colorado's AI Act (SB 205) is the most comprehensive enacted state statute, with duties of reasonable care for both developers and deployers of high-risk AI systems. Other states have active legislation at earlier stages — see the state pages here for current status.
If my company only operates in one state, do other states' AI laws matter?
They can, if you sell into or serve customers in those states — most of these statutes are triggered by where the affected consumer is, not where your company is based. A company based in a state with no AI-specific law can still owe obligations under another state's statute for the customers it serves there.

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