AFT’s Weingarten on President Trump’s Executive Order to Gut AI Regulations

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement responding to the Trump administration’s executive order that enables the federal government to sue and withhold grants from states that establish commonsense AI laws: 

“This outrageous and likely illegal directive to sue states that exercise their right to regulate AI shows, in bold-faced type, the administration’s loyalty to Big Tech over kids, families, educators, nurses and other workers. 

“Let’s be clear—this is not about whether AI should or shouldn’t be used as a tool. It should. It’s about how to ensure that young people are safe, that educators and parents retain control, and that society is protected, not exploited. That is, after all, the entire purpose of regulation.

“This order would override state and local control by nullifying enforcement of current and any future state AI laws across the country. It will set in motion endless and expensive courtroom brawls. And it is truly ironic that as the White House marshals federal resources to immunize the AI industry, it is selling off for parts the functions of the Department of Education that actually help kids.

“The comparison with Australia—which just passed commonsense rules on kids’ use of social media—is telling. While federal lawmakers protect Big Tech billionaires, Australia is protecting its children. Our state lawmakers have stepped up because the federal government won’t.

“The AFT has created AI guardrails and a National Academy for AI Instruction, and we are working alongside states like New York and Kentucky so we don’t make the same mistake with AI that we did with social media. Right now, a generation of kids has become isolated, distracted and addicted to devices because adults failed to act. 

“Big Tech needs to work with communities, as Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI are doing with us, not simply try to get carte blanche from the federal government. 

“Our children deserve a digital future where technology empowers rather than endangers them. Students deserve classrooms where AI supports learning. Teachers deserve tools to prepare our kids for an AI-dominated future—and parents deserve to watch their kids grow into adults who will enter that future with confidence and clarity. 

“In this moment, we need to stand with parents and students as the warning bells ring ever louder. The Trump administration clearly doesn’t agree—and that’s why the nation’s educators will continue to fight back and fight for a future where technology is harnessed for the benefit of America’s families, not the coffers of Big Tech.”