The missive, signed by two Democratic state lawmakers who chair Massachusetts’s Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity, warned Trahan against enabling what they described as a gambit by the AI industry to escape accountability.
State Senator Michael O. Moore and State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier wrote that Massachusetts and other states “are moving to protect their residents from the clear harms that have emerged from the unchecked deployment of artificial intelligence into virtually every sector of society.” They accused the AI industry of turning to federal officials to shield itself from “the reasonable measures being passed by the states.” The letter was obtained by POLITICO.
The dispute centers on a forthcoming bill from Representative Jay Obernolte, a California Republican, which is widely expected to preempt state AI laws and replace them with a federal framework that has not yet been defined. The approach has drawn support from the tech lobby, which favors a single national standard over a patchwork of state rules. But it has alarmed state legislators across the country who see their own efforts as essential consumer protections.
Trahan, a Democrat who serves on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, confirmed in a brief interview on Thursday that she is negotiating with Obernolte over the legislation. “We’re definitely talking about how we would make this bipartisan,” she said. She added that she and Obernolte are “not going to do anything that preempts” without further details, leaving the scope of any potential compromise unclear.
The state lawmakers argued that federal preemption could undermine data privacy protections and expressed concern that agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission might fail to enforce the law adequately under the leadership of Trump administration officials. “We ask that you not enable this gambit by the artificial intelligence industry,” Moore and Farley-Bouvier wrote.
The intervention reflects growing unease among Democrats about working with Republicans on AI legislation ahead of the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential election cycles, as voter concerns over the technology intensify. Trahan, who has at times been a vocal critic of big tech, now finds herself caught between the industry’s push for national uniformity and her own party’s state-level allies who argue that local experimentation is vital.
Moore and Farley-Bouvier requested a meeting with Trahan, writing that they want to “allow states to continue to protect their residents and keep up with the deployment of artificial intelligence in a way that reflects the unique values of their communities.” The letter was sent shortly after Punchbowl News first reported on the talks between Trahan and Obernolte.
