Ten of the Biggest Issues to Watch in 2025

California attempted an AI safety-focused bill that its governor vetoed, while Colorado passed an AI policy focused on discrimination. Most state AI regulation this year is likely to adopt the latter’s anti-discrimination focus, predicts Adam Thierer, resident senior fellow with the technology and innovation team at the R Street Institute, a center-right think tank.

At the federal level, President-elect Trump has promised to repeal President Biden’s executive order on AI and not replace it with policies of his own. This could spur states, especially Democratic-led ones, to pass laws to fill the gap, says Scott Babwah Brennen, director of New York University’s Center on Technology Policy.

This could easily lead to a patchwork of policies, although one group may help bring about a greater level of consensus among state legislators. Members of the Multistate AI Policymaker Working Group share ideas, learn together about the technology and may settle on common definitions and frameworks, while tailoring any final laws to suit their individual states. The working group membership includes lawmakers from Colorado and several other states considering similar policies, including Texas and Connecticut. “You don’t have to have every state pass these laws for them to have enormous, sweeping effect,” Thierer says. “As soon as you get a half-dozen or more states passing laws like this, it becomes a quasi-national standard.”