Pa. attorney general vows to defend state AI laws

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has said he will defend the state’s artificial intelligence laws in court, even if that means directly challenging President Trump’s new federal AI policy.​​

What the AG said

• Sunday stated that if any Pennsylvania AI statute is challenged on constitutional grounds, his office will “absolutely defend it” and continue to enforce state AI regulations.​

• He emphasized that his “job is to do everything I can to protect citizens, keep people safe, keep kids safe,” and that he opposes broad federal efforts to preempt state AI rules.​

Context: Trump AI order

• President Trump issued an executive order aimed at curtailing or preempting state-level regulation of artificial intelligence, including by creating a Justice Department task force to challenge such laws.​​

• The order also ties some federal AI-related support and partnerships to states’ willingness to align with the federal approach, increasing tension over who sets rules for AI.​

Pennsylvania’s AI laws at issue

• Pennsylvania has recently passed or advanced multiple AI-related measures, including laws and bills targeting AI “deepfake” misuse in elections, digital forgery, and AI‑generated child exploitation material.​

• These measures include criminal penalties and civil remedies for malicious AI impersonations and deepfake content, particularly in political ads and in exploitation of minors.​

How Sunday plans to respond

• Sunday indicated prosecutors in Pennsylvania should continue bringing cases under existing AI‑related criminal statutes, such as those involving AI deepfake pornography and fraud, regardless of the federal order.​

• He also recently led a bipartisan coalition of 42 state attorneys general pressing major AI companies to adopt stronger “guardrails,” signaling he sees state AGs as central enforcers and negotiators on AI safety.​

Why this matters

• The dispute sets up a potential legal clash over federal preemption and states’ rights to regulate AI, with Pennsylvania positioned to argue that its laws are needed to protect residents from AI‑enabled harms.​​

• The outcome could influence how far other states can go in regulating AI on issues like deepfakes, fraud, and election integrity before running into federal limits.​