Governments tighten AI rules
Governments are racing to write AI rulebooks — the US rolled out new regulations that draw "red lines" around high‑risk uses while the EU’s AI Act (coming into force in August) will impose fines up to €35 million or 7% of global revenue for non‑compliance. (24matins.uk) Public backlash is already visible: nearly 200 protesters marched on OpenAI and Anthropic’s San Francisco offices this week demanding an end to the AI “race.” (indiatoday.in)
The White House published a four‑page National Policy Framework on March 20, 2026 that lists seven legislative priorities and explicitly advises Congress not to create a new federal AI agency. (whitehouse.gov) Senator Marsha Blackburn released a discussion draft dubbed the “Trump America AI Act” that would impose a statutory “duty of care” on AI developers and include provisions to sunset Section 230 protections for online hosts. (blackburn.senate.gov) The Commerce Department has circulated draft export controls aimed at tightening restrictions on high‑end AI chips bound for China, a move that has clashed with the White House and prompted industry concern from firms such as Nvidia and AMD. (axios.com) The Department of Defense filed a 40‑page court document earlier this month designating Anthropic a supply‑chain risk and flagged a $200 million contract the company signed with the Pentagon as context for its concerns. (techcrunch.com) Organizers including the group “Stop the AI Race” and Indivisible SF staged a march on March 21 that began outside Anthropic’s SoMa headquarters at 500 Howard Street and moved on to OpenAI and xAI, calling on CEOs Dario Amodei, Sam Altman and Elon Musk to publicly commit to a conditional pause. (kron4.com) EU implementation is proceeding on a phased schedule: prohibited practices were banned earlier, general‑purpose AI obligations have been phased in, and the bloc requires full conformity for high‑risk systems by August 2, 2026. (compliquest.com) Finland put national supervision powers for the EU AI Act into force on January 1, 2026 and designated Traficom as a central contact point while distributing market surveillance tasks across existing sectoral authorities. (valtioneuvosto.fi) Compliance teams report preparing technical documentation, fundamental‑rights impact assessments and “audit‑ready” logs now that national market surveillance authorities can conduct inspections and levy administrative penalties. (glocertinternational.com)
