WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday unveiled an artificial intelligence policy for Congress that urges lawmakers to enact legislation to pre-empt state rules, protect children and shield communities from high energy costs related to the burgeoning technology.
The Trump administration has been pushing for a single legislative framework that can be applied uniformly across the country, rather than leaving states to form their own plans.
U.S. President Donald Trump in December said he would withhold federal broadband funding from states whose laws to regulate artificial intelligence are judged by his administration to be holding back American dominance in the technology.
Republican House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson and leader Steve Scalise said the policy gives Congress a roadmap for legislation "that provides innovators with much-needed certainty, while protecting consumers and prioritizing kids' online safety."
The AI industry has been a powerful profit driver for the tech sector in recent years, propelling chipmaker Nvidia to become the world's largest company, while tech behemoths Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Alphabet and Microsoft pour billions of dollars into the sector.
The White House said it looked forward to working with Congress to turn the framework into legislation.
"We need one national AI framework, not a 50-state patchwork," Michael Kratsios, science and technology adviser to Trump, told The Daily Signal. "And I think one of the key provisions of it that will make it all work and come together is really focusing on the bipartisan consensus around protecting America's children."
Protections in the White House framework include giving parents control of accounts and devices to protect their children's privacy and suggests features to combat potential sexual exploitation or self-harm.
The framework calls on Congress to streamline permitting so that electricity-gobbling data centers can generate their own power on site. It wants to increase the federal government's ability to fight AI-generated scams and national security concerns.
The plan calls for removing barriers to innovation, accelerating AI deployment across business sectors and making it easier to build top-grade AI systems, with a goal of ensuring global AI dominance.
The framework includes provisions on intellectual property rights, preventing censorship and protecting free speech and developing an AI-proficient workforce by educating Americans.
The four-page document barely touches on issues of national security, despite concerns from China hawks in Washington that sales of advanced AI chips to China will help Washington's rival supercharge its military.
The Trump administration gave the greenlight earlier this year to China-bound exports of Nvidia's second most advanced AI chip with conditions, and licenses to allow the shipments have been issued.
White House AI czar David Sacks argues that shipping advanced AI chips to China discourages Chinese competitors - such as heavily sanctioned Huawei - from redoubling efforts to catch up with Nvidia's and AMD's most advanced chip designs.