Federal Statutes Apply to AI Decisions, No Single Federal AI Law Exists
Currently, there is no single federal statute specifically governing artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States. Instead, existing federal statutes apply to decisions made by AI systems, just as they would to decisions made by individuals. These include critical laws such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which requires lenders to provide specific reasons for credit denials; the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which mandates notices when consumer reports are used; Title VII, which requires employers to demonstrate job-relatedness and business necessity for screening tools that produce a disparate impact; and the FTC Act, which prohibits deceptive acts or practices, including misleading claims about an AI model's capabilities or data use. Some states, like Texas with its Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act effective January 1, 2026, have begun enacting AI-specific laws. Companies utilizing AI must build governance programs to ensure compliance with these existing obligations, covering as...
