The US administration is finalizing its 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which must pass by the end of this year. One provision of the bill would impose a 10-year moratorium(new window) on state-level regulation of AI. This would effectively halt any state’s ability to control how AI tools collect data or generate responses for their residents.

The same moratorium was rejected in July 2025(new window) as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But this time the administration is ready with a backup plan: If the moratorium doesn’t pass as part of the NDAA, the Trump administration has already drafted an executive order that would try to force states to scrap any AI regulations of their own.

At Proton, we believe regulation is an effective tool to protect people, and a federal standard is the right way to go. In a fiercely divided political climate, a single federal law would streamline AI regulation, preventing fragmented protections across states, and making the rules much more clear. But erasing state laws before proposing any federal alternative would be worse. Big Tech would be able to operate without guardrails, putting everyone’s safety and privacy at risk.

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