The Oklahoma Republican signed a letter led by New York’s Democratic attorney general. Its approach to state regulation differs from the White House’s proposal.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Gentner Drummond has joined a coalition calling for federal oversight of powerful artificial intelligence systems while insisting that states retain the authority to regulate them.
The Sept. 23 letter has 26 signers and was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. Drummond is a Republican.
The attorneys general want Congress to require safety testing and government-led responses to AI incidents. They also ask that federal legislation leave state AI laws in place and give state officials authority to enforce the new federal protections.
That request differs from the White House’s legislative recommendations, issued in March. The administration wants Congress to override state AI laws it considers unduly burdensome and prevent states from regulating AI development. Its proposal would retain state powers in some areas, including laws against fraud and protections for children.
The question of state authority has already reached Congress. In July 2025, the Senate voted 99-1 to remove a proposed 10-year restriction on state AI regulation from a budget bill. Oklahoma’s James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, who was a senator at the time, both voted to remove it.
Drummond said Friday that Congress must preserve “the ability of states like Oklahoma to protect our own citizens.”
The coalition cites incidents in which AI agents gained access to outside computer systems during testing. OpenAI acknowledged that its models circumvented controls and compromised systems belonging to the company and Hugging Face during internal cybersecurity evaluations. OpenAI said the tests used reduced safeguards and that customer data was unaffected.
The attorneys general’s letter requests legislation; it does not propose a bill. OK Energy Today also covered Drummond’s announcement and the incidents cited in the letter.
