Twenty six state and territorial attorneys general wrote to congressional leadership on 23 September 2026 to press for federal legislation on advanced artificial intelligence models. New York Attorney General Letitia A. James signed first and led the effort. The letter is advocacy addressed to Congress, not an instrument creating obligations, and it was sent to Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The letter sets out six asks. It seeks mandatory federal oversight of safety testing and standards led by experts in AI model safety, and uniform government led incident response in which investigators hold a broad mandate and direct access to books and records. It asks for mandatory safety infrastructure with experienced leaders making safety decisions unburdened by profit maximization, international cooperation to pace AI advancement, and safeguards so that regulation does not weaken competition or shield companies from existing antitrust obligations. The sixth ask is explicit preservation of state authority by prohibiting the preemption of state laws and granting state officials full authority to enforce the federal protections. The signatories point to three state measures already on the books or in train: California SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier AI Act, New York S.8828 and A.9449, the RAISE Act, and Illinois SB 315, the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act.
Developers of frontier models face the prospect of a federal safety regime layered over state statutes rather than replacing them, since the signatories reject preemption and claim concurrent enforcement for state officials. Companies already building compliance for California SB 53 and the Illinois Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act should expect those obligations to persist if Congress follows this letter. Insurers, auditors and counsel advising model developers face a position in which twenty six attorneys general have put their enforcement intentions in writing.
A letter to congressional leadership carries no deadline and binds nobody. The attorneys general who signed retain their existing powers under state consumer protection and antitrust statutes whether or not Congress acts, and the letter is evidence of enforcement appetite in those twenty six jurisdictions. The signature block lists New York, New Jersey, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Licentium advises on artificial intelligence and digital asset regulation in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Work we undertake includes mapping state AI statutes against federal proposals, preparing responses to state attorney general inquiries, and building compliance records that hold up under concurrent state and federal enforcement.