(The Center Square) – Virginia is pressing Congress for federal artificial intelligence rules addressing potential effects on jobs, personal data and resource use as the state develops oversight of the technology.
First-year Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday said she is calling on congressional leaders to take a larger role in regulating AI, citing concerns about workforce impacts, data privacy and the resources needed to support the technology.
Her letter was sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“The federal government needs to play a much larger role in regulating this emerging technology to ensure its safe development and the protection of people and their livelihoods,” Spanberger wrote.
The letter does not spell out a specific federal regulatory structure or spending proposal. Instead, Spanberger called for national guardrails while states continue acting within their authority.
The request comes days after Virginia created an Artificial Intelligence Task Force focused on workforce displacement, data privacy and cybersecurity as part of the administration’s broader Data Center Accountability Framework. Spanberger said states are acting within limited areas of jurisdiction and that federal action is needed to establish a national framework. Virginia’s task force was created through Executive Order 22 on Friday.
Maryland also moved Tuesday to expand artificial intelligence oversight. Democratic Gov. Wes Moore announced a framework calling for worker protections, safeguards for children and recommendations addressing the use and regulation of AI. The plan includes workplace guidance, worker-transition efforts and policies governing AI use in schools.
Spanberger’s call comes as the Trump administration favors a lighter regulatory approach to AI.
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump reiterated his opposition to new AI regulations Tuesday during remarks to the United Nations General Assembly. He also said federal documents would begin referring to artificial intelligence as “super intelligence.”
Spanberger rejected the idea that AI safety and U.S. leadership in the technology are mutually exclusive.
“America can do both,” she wrote, calling for federal-state cooperation on regulations that protect the public while supporting technological progress.
Her broader AI effort in Virginia includes cybersecurity, workforce displacement and data privacy through the state task force, while the letter to Congress focuses on workforce impacts, privacy and large-scale resource consumption.