Governors urge AI regulation

Shapiro joins bipartisan group pushing for action from Congress

A growing chorus of red and blue state governors is urging Congress to regulate frontier artificial intelligence, as concerns intensify over the technology's potential to cause catastrophic harm.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat up for re-election in November, was the latest to join the call for federal action in a keynote speech last week at the AI Horizons 2026 Summit in Pittsburgh, saying it does so "for nearly every other industry that significantly impacts our lives."

The bipartisan demands for federal guardrails follow a series of incidents over the past two months, including next-generation Anthropic and OpenAI models that escaped their controlled environment and hacked into other companies' systems. No serious harm resulted, but these and other events have raised alarm from both within and outside the companies.

"We need the federal government to establish strict rules of the road and then enforce those rules to ensure a level playing field," Shapiro said. "Rules that require independent, third-party oversight of frontier models; increased transparency into the development of these models; and prioritize safety above all else."

Governors across the country and political spectrum have sounded a similar note in recent weeks.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, issued an open letter last week calling on Congress to pass a federal framework that requires mandatory reporting of serious safety incidents, whistleblower protections, third-party audits, and a prohibition on the sale of AI chips to China.

Cox wrote that Utah enacted the nation's first significant consumer protections for generative AI in 2024, a law that also established a state office of AI policy.

"This framework should set a national floor -- not a ceiling -- focused strictly on frontier AI without preempting broader state authority," Cox said in the letter. "States must retain full power to regulate consumer and child protection, guide workforce development, foster local AI adoption and innovation, and advance the human-enhancing applications we want to accelerate."

Cox also urged frontier AI labs to voluntarily embrace the steps he wants Congress to mandate.

Industry leaders have acknowledged the risk of their models evading human control and called for a coordinated slowdown in the pace of development. The resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon this month prompted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat seeking a third term, to issue his own call to action.

"It's time to sound the alarm -- louder -- on reining in Artificial Intelligence," Pritzker said in a statement. "It's becoming more clear the threat AI poses to humanity, so I'm calling for immediate action from the industry and Washington. When AI researchers are whistleblowing, we need to listen."

Pritzker urged Congress to hold immediate hearings on AI safety and pass national standards. He pointed to an Illinois AI frontier model safety law he signed in July and similar laws in California and New York as an example of states setting a de facto national standard in the absence of congressional action.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat also seeking re-election, said in a statement that "states cannot solve this problem alone."

"The federal government must establish strong national standards that put public safety ahead of the race to develop ever more powerful technology," she said.

Several federal bills to regulate AI development have been introduced, but none have advanced. Congress has also considered measures to preempt state AI regulation, which President Donald Trump urged them to do.

Trump last week dismissed concerns about rogue AI's dangers, calling it a "HOAX" in a social media post. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has also downplayed concerns and recessed the House until after the midterm elections.

In an interview with CNN, Johnson said AI CEOs and members of Congress need to get in a room together to agree on guardrails and warned against Congress rushing to regulate.

"If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American," Johnson said.

State legislators have led the way on AI regulations in recent years amid congressional gridlock. The government affairs firm MultiState is tracking 1,860 AI-related bills that were introduced this year or carried over from last year.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a term-limited Democrat and potential 2028 presidential contender, signed an executive order Friday that he said in a video would "dramatically accelerate independent oversight of AI companies and advance the creation of an 'AI kill switch."

"With Donald Trump and Congress failing to lead, California is stepping up to keep all Americans safe," Newsom said.

Newsom signed legislation this month to establish a third-party audit framework for AI models. A second new law signed at the same time creates a registry for AI auditors.

In announcing the bill signings, Newsom highlighted California's "nation-leading action" on AI.

But, he said, "the federal government must step forward with robust, national regulations that match the urgency of this moment."

Among the other governors wading into the debate over AI regulation, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat seeking a second term, said it is time for "federal action to put guardrails on AI development before it is too late."

The Massachusetts House and Senate are currently negotiating the final language of an economic development bill that includes provisions regulating frontier AI models.

AI regulation was also a topic when Fox News recently interviewed two Republican governors, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Phil Scott of Vermont, and two Democratic governors, Wes Moore of Maryland and Josh Stein of North Carolina, in Boston's Old State House.

Scott said in the interview that regulating AI is a job for both Congress and the states.

Stein called on the federal government to take the lead but said "none of us have any confidence in this Congress to solve the big problem."