Attorney General Tong Pushes Back on Potential State AI Law Ban

Press Releases

11/25/2025

Attorney General Tong Pushes Back on Potential State AI Law Ban

(Hartford, CT) – Today, Attorney General William Tong and a bipartisan coalition of 36 attorneys general wrote to Congress to oppose efforts to ban state laws that address artificial intelligence. Public reporting over the past few days indicates that lawmakers may insert a state AI law ban into a military funding bill. A bipartisan group of attorneys general, including Attorney General Tong, successfully opposed a similar ban over the summer. The federal government hasn’t enacted comprehensive protections against AI, so state laws fill the void to protection people against the harmful uses of AI.

“This legislation is a handout to Big Tech seeking free reign to reshape our society with zero oversight or accountability. Attorneys general are united in staunch opposition to any effort to restrain states’ abilities to pass commonsense AI regulations to fill the vacuum left by federal inaction,” said Attorney General Tong.

The attorneys general acknowledge that AI is a transformative technology that will benefit people in health care, public safety, and other ways, but attorneys general are also on the front lines of confronting the dangers of AI. Recent reporting has shown how AI is distorting reality and enhancing delusions for some vulnerable users, targeting senior citizens with convincing grandparent scams, having inappropriate conversations with children, and in the worst cases, reinforcing and encouraging self-harm and suicidal ideations in children and adults.

A ban on state AI laws could be catastrophic for people’s safety. Various states have enacted laws to protect their residents from the dangers of AI, including laws that prohibit AI tools that spread misinformation to voters, allow robocallers to spam people with scam phone calls and texts, deceive consumers about products on the market, compromise data privacy, and use algorithms to manipulate and raise costs.

Attorney General Tong has also pushed companies to create stronger AI protections. Earlier this year, attorneys general demanded that Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and AI tech companies adopt safeguards against predatory artificial intelligence assistants and chatbots that have inappropriate conversations with children. Attorney General Tong has also demanded that search engines, banks, and payment platforms take steps to prevent people from profiting off of or creating and sharing deepfake nonconsensual intimate images.

Instead of a harmful prohibition on state AI laws, the attorneys general are asking Congressional leaders to work with them on a substantive effort to create federal protections against harmful AI.

Attorney General Tong is joined in sending this letter to Congress by the attorneys general of American Samoa, Arizona, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Washington, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the letter is available here.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

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