The US is advancing AI safety through state and federal action

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Through reverse federalism, states are aligning on AI safeguards as the federal government builds toward a national standard—laying the groundwork for a US-led global framework.

From state capitals across the country to Washington to international convenings, serious approaches to frontier AI governance are taking shape. Together, they are advancing a democratic vision for AI.

California, New York, and most recently Illinois have advanced frontier safety legislation that helps move the country toward a common baseline for governing the most powerful AI systems.

These efforts reflect momentum behind what OpenAI calls reverse federalism: states helping establish a shared direction through a common framework. As state-led work converges with efforts underway at the federal level, a national standard is beginning to take shape, laying the foundation for a US-led global AI framework. We believe the best way to ensure AI benefits the many, not just the few, is for critical decisions—starting with frontier safety—to be made by democratic governments, not solely by frontier labs.

Ultimately, the United States would be best served by a national framework grounded in that principle. But in the absence of one, states can move us there by passing laws that mirror one another. Step by step, they can create a de facto national standard.

And if safety is the priority, such a national standard is the best policy approach to ensure (a) the US continues to lead in innovation and not be undermined by a patchwork of regulations that would slow the ability to build out a global democratic AI stack that will optimize for the good guys having the tools they need to defend against bad actors seeking to misuse AI in areas like cybersecurity; and (b) put the US in the strongest position to take the national standard and create a global approach for the safe deployment of AI that is built on democratic values.

If we want to create a safety framework that will truly prioritize getting in place a national and international standard—which is what will best support the safe deployment of AI—it will take hard work, a seriousness of purpose and a strategy that connects the states, the federal government, and the international conversation. A performative or virtue signaling approach will not get the job done here—chaos at the state level is not in the best interest of a durable approach to safety, it will only lead to more chaos.

For that approach to succeed, states should continue aligning on the core elements, as California, New York, and Illinois have. Broadly speaking, those elements are:

A documented safety framework with risk assessments for frontier models and public disclosure of those assessments and their results.

Taken together, these three states have