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Since the 2024 U.S. presidential election, AI has evolved from a niche topic that received limited mainstream political attention to a kitchen-table issue that Americans are speaking out about on a regular basis.
As we note in our new area of work “AI and What Makes Us Human,” the visceral effects of generative AI products have rippled across American households over the last year, with harms felt in schools, workplaces, families, and more. AI image generators are creating a flood of exploitative, nonconsensual content; chatbots are triggering mental health crises in users; and fears around AI replacing humans en masse in the workforce are growing. In 2026, the public is reckoning with what can be done to protect children, communities, and future job prospects as AI continues to be rolled out at a rapid rate. And they’re looking to lawmakers to take action on these issues.
Here are the important trends we’re watching in politics and policy as the year unfolds.
With U.S. midterm elections set for November, politicians are gearing up for intensive campaigning — and AI is increasingly a hot-button issue.
We anticipate candidates across the political spectrum to address AI’s impacts on jobs, kids, relationships, and the economy, and for voters to begin looking for solutions-oriented positioning around AI as they head to the polls later this year. (We saw a preview of this during 2025’s off-year elections, as Governor Spanberger of Virginia and Governor Sherrill of New Jersey included tech concerns as a part of their campaign platforms.)
Deep-pocketed tech companies are also vying for influence this midterm election season. With aggressive PAC spending, companies including Meta and OpenAI are seeking to infuse midterm campaigns with industry-friendly positions and to downplay current AI harms and future risks. Tech PAC spending is also being leveraged to bolster opposition work, targeting midterm candidates who have publicly supported AI regulation.
Finally, the midterm election year means that windows for legislative action are smaller, as many policymakers shift their bandwidth to the campaign trail. This time crunch could lead to legislative packages that eschew bolder visions for more sensemaking around AI and narrow solves.
With the time that is available during a midterms year, we can expect members of Congress to focus on issues that already gained steam in 2025 — including product liability and remedies for chatbot harms, especially harms that relate to kids and teens. We also may see AI infrastructure become a policy priority, as constituents who are already concerned about the economy weather expensive data center buildouts and increased demands on their local water and power supplies.
Neither the Democratic nor Republican parties are fixed to a clear agenda when it comes to AI. As politicians look to show leadership and differentiate themselves in the field of midterm candidates, new political factions will take shape — some with industry-friendly stances, others with more populist approaches to tech policy. This could lead to new areas of consensus around responses to tech harms and our new realities with technology. It could also drive politicians to appeal to constituents who are increasingly worried about AI in their everyday lives.
AI legislation continued to make meaningful momentum at the state level in 2025. 73 AI laws were passed across 27 states, with legislative focus areas spanning deepfakes, chatbot guardrails, human-in-the-loop healthcare, kids’ safety, and more. As states kicked off session this January, a flurry of AI-related bills were introduced targeting a range of issues including surveillance pricing, AI chatbot liability, and protections for kids.
But an Executive Order released in December 2025 threatens to stall this progress. The Trump administration’s “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence” aims to preempt state AI laws for the sake of creating a “unified approach” — a potentially massive hindrance in the effort to regulate AI and keep consumers safe. Because of this Order, the momentum of recent legislative victories now hangs in the balance, with the Executive Order potentially halting the implementation of AI laws passed over the past few sessions.
The status of state-level AI legislation thus remains uncertain in 2026, though the Executive Order will likely face hurdles in court. As the Order’s benchmark dates approach and its legal fate is decided in court, state AI laws may remain in limbo for the time being. Or, some state lawmakers may choose to defy the threat of the Executive Order and forge ahead.
Litigation continues to be an important arena for enacting change in the tech ecosystem, especially as court decisions can produce new and lasting precedents that drive industry accountability. Although it can be slow-moving, several significant milestones are emerging in various litigation processes. High-profile lawsuits against OpenAI, Meta, TikTok, Midjourney, Snap, YouTube, and other dominant tech companies will continue to influence tech policy in 2026, and could spill over into the court of public opinion.
The ongoing cases are diverse and cover a range of topics, including psychosocial harms from chatbots, copyright issues, and social media addiction. Revelations from these lawsuits — including internal emails and documents from within these tech companies — could continue to shift public sentiment around today’s most popular tech products including Instagram and ChatGPT, and shed new light on dangerous design practices at leading tech firms.
Already, the first bellwether case — the social media addiction trial in Los Angeles — is making waves, with the plaintiff’s attorney arguing that Meta and YouTube designed “digital casinos” to addict users. Outcomes in the social media addiction trial have the potential to cascade across other legal proceedings against tech companies. More trailblazing cases can be expected to emerge as 2026 unfolds.st tech companies. More trailblazing cases can be expected as 2026 unfolds.
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