State AGs fill the AI regulatory void
By Ashley Taylor, Clayton Friedman, Gene Fishel, Reuters, May 19, 2025
As generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies rapidly proliferate and permeate society, state attorneys general (AGs) have warned of potential AI misuse and legal violations. And while only California, Colorado, and Utah have enacted laws governing AI, the dearth of AI-specific laws has not prevented states from advising and taking AI-related action under existing law. Indeed, state AGs have indicated that they will utilize privacy, consumer protection, and anti-discrimination laws to regulate AI.
AGs are focused on how AI systems utilize personal identifying information, potentially facilitate fraud using deepfakes, operate relative to company representations, and could perpetrate bias and discrimination in decision-making processes. In January 2024, a bipartisan group of AGs sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warning of potential fraud where AI is used to imitate human voices in telemarketing campaigns. See Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies on Protecting Consumers from Unwanted Robocalls and Robotexts, Federal Communications Commission, CG Docket No. 23-362 (January 17, 2024).
While California, Colorado, and Utah will ramp up enforcement under their AI laws, businesses must be aware of regulatory risks from other states under traditional laws and ensure robust AI compliance measures. Since the FCC letter, AGs from California, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, and Texas have issued AI-specific guidance or taken AI-related enforcement actions that address common themes, despite not having AI-specific laws in their states.
