Oklahoma Stalls on AI Rules While Rest of Nation Moves Forward

While other states are getting serious about artificial intelligence regulation, Oklahoma’s legislative efforts keep hitting dead ends—and there’s a federal thumb on the scale.

The past six months have been a lesson in political gridlock for AI oversight in Oklahoma. State Rep. Carl Newton, R-Cherokee, introduced a bill in 2025 that would’ve stopped deepfake campaign ads from fooling voters. It never got a committee hearing. State Rep. Cody Maynard, R-Durant, filed three“commonsense”AI bills this year—all three passed the Oklahoma House—but stalled in the Senate. Even House Bill 3299, which included strict guidelines for synthetic media in political ads and would’ve penalized creators of deepfakes used to harm people, made it out of the Judiciary and Public Safety Oversight Committee in February before vanishing.

The culprit? President Donald Trump’s executive order warning states to back off AI regulation. Trump has framed AI as a national security issue—letting states create a patchwork of rules could hurt American competitiveness against China, the thinking goes. His administration even threatened to pull funding from states that get too regulatory. That’s been enough to chill Oklahoma’s appetite for the fight.

But here’s the thing: other states aren’t backing down. Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, and California are all moving forward with legislation. A growing number of states—Republican and Democratic alike—have passed laws requiring companies to disclose when people interact with AI, restricting how chatbots can talk to kids, and embedding data into digital content to flag AI-altered photos and videos. Connecticut just enacted rules for companion chatbots. Colorado required disclosure when AI influences decisions about employment, housing, and banking. The momentum is real, and it’s spreading.

Oklahoma did manage to pass one meaningful AI measure: Senate Bill 1734, the Oklahoma Responsible Technology in Schools Act, signed into law on May 12 by Gov. Stitt. The law requires teachers to review anything AI produces before using it in class, mandates parent notification about classroom AI use, and prevents AI from being the sole basis for grades or promotion decisions. It’s a start—but only for schools.

Gov. Stitt himself signaled interest in deeper action. On June 8, he told CNN he was considering a special legislative session to address AI-generated political ads.“When I started seeing some AI-generated ads politically attacking people, putting them in different situations with people, I just thought, listen, we need to make sure that the voters have accurate information and the truth still matters in Oklahoma,”Stitt said. That concern hasn’t yet translated into action.

For Maynard, the rejection stings but hasn’t killed the dream.“I only get 8 bills to run each year, so I have to pick those 8 very carefully,”he explained, adding:“People are concerned about AI…it’s fair to say I will be looking at ways to bring back some of these ideas to craft new versions in the future.”

The national picture is clear: AI regulation is coming, whether Trump likes it or not. States see real harms—deepfakes, exploitation of kids, algorithmic bias, scams—and they’re tired of waiting for Washington. Oklahoma has a chance to lead on protecting its citizens, especially when it comes to political deception and child safety. The question is whether Lawton and the rest of the state will push harder, or keep letting federal pressure keep our lawmakers sidelined.