Dear Mr. Gould,
Thank you for writing to share your concerns regarding artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. I appreciate hearing from you.
I strongly support technological innovation in the United States, and AI has the potential to provide important benefits to society. However, as with every technological evolution before it, these new technologies also pose crucial challenges that we must address, including by ensuring that the benefits of AI are broadly distributed across society and that any uses of the technology by governments and corporations are transparent, accountable, and equitable.
On December 11, 2025, President Trump announced an Executive Order titled “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,” which seeks to pre-empt state regulation of AI. California leads the world in AI innovation and industry— advancing technological research while also adopting nation-leading consumer protections. Rather than investing in AI innovation, the Trump Administration is instead working to undermine basic safeguards that protect consumers.
As AI rapidly advances, Congress must provide real accountability by ensuring independent audits, robust transparency, and whistleblower protections, among other needed guardrails. You may be interested to know that on September 23, 2026, I joined Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to negotiate an agreement between the U.S. and China on guardrails and global standards for the development, testing, and use of frontier AI.
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am a member, and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, of which I am Ranking Member, have also held hearings this Congress on the risks and opportunities associated with AI.
Please know that I appreciate hearing your perspective on this issue, and I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as Congress considers efforts to regulate AI technologies.
Once again, thank you for writing. Should you have any other questions or comments, please call my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3553 or visit my website at padilla.senate.gov. You can also follow me on Facebook, and Twitter, and you can sign up for my email newsletter at padilla.senate.gov/newsletter.
Sincerely,
Alex Padilla United States Senator