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President Donald Trump just announced that he plans to issue an executive order this week to set federal rules around artificial intelligenceand prevent states from setting their own. I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You cant expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. We are beating ALL COUNTRIES at this point in the race, but that wont last long if we are going to have 50 States, many of them bad actors, involved in RULES and the APPROVAL PROCESS. The executive order is just the latest dramatic act of deregulation from Trump, who, since taking office, has slashed rules from banking regulations to environmental protections. Under Trumps plan, the federal governments framework on AI would override any rules that individual states might put in place to shape the technologys use or development. Trumps AI executive order isnt out yet, but a draft version that circulated last month proposed an aggressive framework that would go as far as creating a federal legal task force designed to punish states with AI regulations. Under the order, which would likely attract its own legal challenges, states with AI laws could be denied federal funds. The White Houses interest in preempting AI regulations is a huge windfall for AI companies and investors who have lobbied against state protections. In a hearing on Capitol Hill in May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stressed that any rules slowing AI down in the U.S. would allow China to speed ahead. The proposed executive order is the Trump administrations latest effort to end-run state AI laws, but it isnt the first. This summer, Congress rejected a moratorium on state AI laws slipped into Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Similar language that appeared in the year-end defense budget also looks unlikely to make it through, Politico reports, because Republicans dont agree on the issue. States step in on AI Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed the idea of limiting states ability to regulate AI as federal overreach in a post on X last month, a position he shares with many other red state governors. Stripping states of jurisdiction to regulate AI is a subsidy to Big Tech and will prevent states from protecting against online censorship of political speech, predatory applications that target children, violations of intellectual property rights, and data center intrusions on power/water resources, DeSantis wrote. AI technology has exploded over the last few years with little to stand in its way. The technology is the latest example of how the tech worlds breakneck speed easily outstrips the U.S. governments ability to craft meaningful regulations. Congress in particular is slow, often gridlocked and ineffective at regulating new industries, which leaves states to work quickly to put their own protections in place. A scenario in which states actually place the most stringent limits on AI wouldnt be unprecedented. In the absence of federal protections, an Illinois law known as the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) shields state residents from companies that would use their facial recognition data without permission. While BIPA only applies to Illinois residents, the law has proven strong enough to trip up Meta, which paid out $650 million to settle a related lawsuit before backing away from the technology altogether. For AI companies like OpenAI, navigating a vast patchwork of varying state laws is anathema to the pace of progressand to their skyrocketing valuations. But states are increasingly wary of the technology: In 2025, all 50 states introduced legislation on AI, and 38 states put new rules in place. In Oregon, a new state law prevents AI agents from using medical titles when dispensing advice. In Arkansas, an amendment to an existing law now restricts how AI can imitate someones voice or appearance. In November, dozens of state attorneys general sent a letter to lawmakers urging Congress to reject any limits on states abilities to regulate AI. New applications for AI are regularly being found for healthcare, hiring, housing markets, customer service, law enforcement and public safety, transportation, banking, education, and social media, they wrote. Federal inaction paired with a rushed, broad federal preemption of state regulations risks disastrous consequences for our communities.
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E-Commerce
More and more people are turning to GoFundMe for help covering the cost of housing, food, and other basic needs. The for-profit crowdfunding platform’s annual Year in Help report, released Tuesday, underscored ongoing concerns around affordability. The number of fundraisers started to help cover essential expenses such as rent, utilities, and groceries jumped 20%, according to the company’s 2025 review, after already quadrupling last year. Monthly bills were the second fastest-growing category behind individual support for nonprofits. The number of essentials fundraisers has increased over the last three years in all of the company’s major English-speaking markets, according to GoFundMe CEO Tim Cadogan. That includes the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. In the United States, the self-published report comes at the end of a year that has seen weakened wage growth for lower-income workers, sluggish hiring, a rise in the unemployment rate and low consumer confidence in the economy. Cadogan said GoFundMe can see that people are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living. Someone may be behind on rent or needs a little bit of extra help to get through the next month, Cadogan said. Thats a function of whats going on in these economies. And what is interesting is that people do step up and support folks in those situations. Among campaigns aimed at addressing broader community needs, food banks were the most common recipient on GoFundMe this year. The platform experienced a nearly sixfold spike in food-related fundraisers between the end of October and first weeks of November, according to Cadogan, as many Americans’ monthly SNAP benefits got suddenly cut off during the government shutdown. These uses suggest that online crowdfunding has come a long way from its roots as a way for entrepreneurs to raise money for their artistic or business endeavors, according to University of Toronto postdoctoral researcher Martin Lukk. Lukk, who studies economic inequality and co-authored a book about the unfulfilled promise of digital crowdfunding,” said the findings act somewhat as a barometer of where things are at in terms of desperation. When theres no other net to catch people, I think GoFundMe is where they often end up, Lukk said. Lukk cautioned that GoFundMe data doesnt show the full extent of the desperation because not everyone in need participates and many users don’t end up reaching their goals. Organizers must have internet access and technological know-how, he said, and a successful campaign often requires savvy storytelling and strong social networks. Iesha Shepard, 34, was initially embarrassed to ask for help. The New Orleans native said she’s dealt with chronic heart failure ever since she was shot multiple times four years ago. A single mother of two daughters, she said she fell sick last month and hasn’t been able to work her part-time hotel job for the past three weeks. Then came the eviction notice. As someone who barely can make a living, Shepard said she has struggled to keep up with the rising cost of rent and groceries. When her social security application got denied for the second time, she said she felt especially discouraged. She turned to crowdfunding because, as she said, I don’t want to be homeless with my children around the holiday time. That was my last option,” Shepard said. I prayed and I did a GoFundMe. She never expected the response she’s gotten. Her fundraiser has collected more than $1,000 of her $1,800 goal. Setting up the campaign was easy, she said, and the donations really ramped up after she uploaded TikTok videos about her situation. A Nov. 29 post has been viewed more than 10,000 times. Cadogan said his team always hopes that countries have strong government programs around health, housing or seniors’ well-being, for example. But GoFundMe recognizes that no country’s systems address everything, he added. At the end of a year that began with the Los Angeles wildfires that struck Cadogan’s community of Altadena, the GoFundMe CEO said he is blown away by the power of help. While asking for help can be a difficult step,” he said, it is a courageous act that is worth taking. Taking that action opens the door to what can be incredible goodness,” Cadogan said. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. James Pollard, Associated Press
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The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, may be visible in more than a dozen U.S. states Tuesday, December 9, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA). A full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to reach Earth early to midday on Tuesday, potentially causing periods of “strong” G3 geomagnetic storms (on a scale of G1 to G5). The aurora borealis is the result of a geomagnetic storm that occurs when a coronal mass ejection (CME), an eruption of solar material, reaches Earth and causes swaths of purple, blue, and green in the night sky. This years increased solar activity (and thus, more frequent northern lights activity) is likely the result of an 11-year sun cycle peak. Here’s what to know about how to see the spectacular view. Where will the northern lights be visible? The aurora “may be visible over a number of northern U.S. states and lower Midwest to Oregon” on Tuesday, per the NOAA’s alert. According to the NOAA’s map, a total of 15 states are in the line of view for the aurora tonight. Those states include: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, and Maine. When is the best time to see the aurora borealis? For the best viewing, the NOAA recommends facing north, in a spot away from light pollution, between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. You can track the aurora on the NOAAs website, where the agency is providing updates and visibility in real time, with a 30-minute aurora forecast.
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