Press Release
Trump’s Executive Order Hands AI’s Future to Big Tech Billionaires
12. 12. 2025
ESCAA and ESPA condemn President Trump’s plan to prohibit state AI regulations, putting billionaire CEOs’ interests over the public
SACRAMENTO – President Trump issued an executive order today attempting to ban states from implementing their own AI regulations – including those for safety, transparency, and to stop algorithmic price collusion, which has driven up costs for consumers. Teri Olle, Vice President, Economic Security California Action, which co-sponsored major AI safety legislation in Sacramento this past session, issued the following statement in response:
“Trump’s campaign to threaten, harass, and punish states that seek to pass commonsense AI regulations is just another chapter in his playbook to hand over control of one of the most transformative technologies of our time to Big Tech CEOs with no accountability, no transparency, and no regard for public safety or the costs to society. While this executive order is short on substance, it gives Big Tech executives a giant blank check to further enrich themselves at all of our expense.
Who gets to decide the role of AI in our lives? We believe it should be the public, through their elected representatives, not a handful of billionaire tech CEOs. President Trump’s executive order makes clear he’s given free rein to billionaires. They will be aided by weaponized federal agencies, which are now charged with harassing and haranguing states that simply seek to ensure tech delivers the broad-based prosperity Silicon Valley is always promising.
This is not about allowing for American innovation. This is about turning a blind eye to companies that have already used AI to endanger children with chatbots, exacerbate the cost of rent through algorithmic collusion, and jack up grocery prices based on surveillance of your personal information. It removes guardrails on their products and conduct. While Congress has done nothing to protect people, states are stepping in with commonsense and broadly supported regulations. Without states’ ability to act, a handful of tech executives will make decisions about the technology that will reshape our economy, our workplaces, and our daily lives.
California proved earlier this year with SB 53 that commonsense AI regulation is possible and popular. The law establishes transparency requirements for large AI models, creates CalCompute to democratize AI infrastructure access, and protects whistleblowers – safeguards supported by Californians across party lines. Trump’s executive order aims to strip states’ power to implement these safeguards, leaving everyone vulnerable.
Related, California’s AB 325 prohibits algorithmic collusion, confirming that corporations cannot use digital tools to break the rules. AI supercharges the threat – the scope and scale – of the ancient antitrust violation of price-fixing, which stifles competition and drives up prices.
The public deserves to know how AI systems will impact our lives. We call on Congress to reject any federal preemption of state AI regulations. States must retain their authority to protect their residents from harms caused by AI, ensure its systems are transparent and accountable, and create pathways for broad-based access to AI infrastructure. The future of AI is too important to be left solely in the hands of Big Tech.”