NIST AI RMF
In the absence of a federal statute, the AI RMF is the closest thing to a US compliance baseline — several state laws grant affirmative defenses to companies aligned with it, effectively making a voluntary framework quasi-binding.
What it is
The voluntary US reference framework for AI risk management (Govern/Map/Measure/Manage), extended by a Generative AI Profile in 2024. Widely embedded in state laws (e.g., Colorado, Texas safe harbors reference it) and enterprise programs.
Who is affected
In the absence of a federal statute, the AI RMF is the closest thing to a US compliance baseline — several state laws grant affirmative defenses to companies aligned with it, effectively making a voluntary framework quasi-binding.
Key obligations
- Voluntary: risk governance structures, mapping, measurement and management of AI risks
- Referenced as a safe harbor / defense in Colorado and Texas AI statutes
Recent signals
US executive order renames AI as 'Super Intelligence' in federal communications
Executive Order 14434 directs agencies to use the term Super Intelligence and asks the science office to propose a federal definition. Terminological rather than regulatory, but a definition could shape later rules.
US executive order targets state AI laws for preemption
EO 14365 creates a DOJ AI Litigation Task Force and funding levers against state AI regulation, setting up the defining federalism fight of US AI governance.
White House releases America's AI Action Plan
90+ actions across innovation, infrastructure and international leadership — including procurement rules for 'ideologically neutral' AI and full-stack export packages.
US enacts TAKE IT DOWN Act on deepfake intimate imagery
Rare bipartisan federal AI statute criminalizes non-consensual intimate deepfakes and mandates 48-hour platform takedowns.
Related instruments
- USEO 14179Revoked the 2023 Biden AI executive order and reoriented federal AI policy toward removing regulatory barriers and securing US AI …
- USUS AI Action PlanA 90+ point federal strategy across three pillars — accelerating innovation, building AI infrastructure, and leading international…
- USEO 14365 (Preemption)Directs the DOJ to create an AI Litigation Task Force to challenge state AI laws, conditions certain federal funding on states not…
- USTAKE IT DOWN ActRare bipartisan federal AI statute criminalizing publication of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated deepfakes, …
- EUEU AI ActThe world's first comprehensive, risk-based AI law. It bans a set of unacceptable practices (social scoring, manipulative AI, most…