ITIF - The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

06/05/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/05/2026 15:33

The Great American AI Act Seeks Good Governance, but Must Get the Details Right, Says Center for Data Innovation

WASHINGTON- Following the release of Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan's discussion draft of the Great American AI Act, the Center for Data Innovation released the following statement from Associate Director of AI Policy Michelle Lopes Maldonado:

The Great American AI Act is one of the most serious federal attempts yet to establish a coherent national AI framework. The bill's core architecture moves in the right direction: transparency requirements for the most powerful AI systems, independent auditing through licensed verifiers, and a federal standard that prevents conflicting mandates from fragmenting the national AI ecosystem. These are the right building blocks.

The discussion draft correctly recognizes that AI policy is about more than regulation. It's also about investments in standards development, cybersecurity, research, infrastructure, and workforce readiness, all of which are essential to ensuring the United States remains the global leader in AI.

However, getting the structure of AI governance right won't be enough if Congress doesn't get the details right. To do this, bill sponsors should use the discussion draft period to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of independent reviews, establish a dynamic compute threshold mechanism that keeps pace with evolving frontier thresholds, ensure language on preemption scope and duration factors state concerns while enabling innovation, and add transparency obligations that reflect AI's full footprint, not just its most dramatic failure modes.

Done right, the Great American AI Act can be exactly what its name implies: a framework that keeps the United States at the frontier of AI development and governance alike.

Contact: Nicole Hinojosa, [email protected]

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