Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• Executive order creating national AI standard

• Government’s 7-page directive on “woke AI”

• ChatGPT ‘adult mode’ coming in 2026

• NY Gov. signs landmark AI in advertising law

Let’s get right into it!

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GOVERNMENT

Executive order creating national AI standard

President Trump’s new executive order creates a single federal framework for artificial intelligence by blocking most state-level AI regulations, a move supporters say will prevent a crippling patchwork of rules and keep the U.S. competitive, but critics argue is a sweeping federal power grab that removes essential guardrails against real harms like bias, privacy violations, and deepfakes.

The White House says the order gives the administration tools to push back on “onerous” state rules while Congress works on broader legislation, though it preserves state authority over child-safety laws. The move has split conservatives and industry leaders alike, with tech figures praising national uniformity while others warn the order undermines democratically enacted state protections and will likely face heavy legal challenges.

GOVERNMENT

Government’s 7-page directive on “woke AI”

The Office of Management and Budget released guidance detailing how federal agencies must ensure AI models used by the government are “unbiased,” following President Trump’s executive order against “woke AI.” The memo requires agencies to obtain enough information from vendors—without requesting sensitive data like model weights—to verify that large language models are “truth-seeking” and “ideologically neutral,” and to embed these criteria into new and existing contracts.

Agencies may request summaries of training processes, evaluation scores, acceptable-use policies, and, in some cases, deeper transparency on bias testing or governance tools. The guidance also applies when agencies build their own models. While the administration frames the policy as protecting accuracy and neutrality, researchers note that true political neutrality in AI may be impossible, and some experts warn the directive could amount to government control over AI outputs and hurt U.S. competitiveness abroad.

BIG TECH

ChatGPT ‘adult mode’ coming in 2026

OpenAI’s launch of GPT-5.2 came with confirmation that a long-promised “adult mode” for ChatGPT will debut in early 2026, offering adults more expressive and personalized interactions, including erotica—an idea originally floated after user backlash over GPT-5’s toned-down personality.

The rollout depends on accurate age-verification systems now being tested, but experts warn that enabling deeper emotional bonding with chatbots could heighten psychological distress, especially given research showing adults who form attachments to AI tools are more vulnerable and that OpenAI itself has acknowledged risks of user over-reliance.

STATE GOVERNMENT

NY Gov. signs landmark AI in advertising law

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the nation’s first AI-specific consumer-protection and entertainment-industry transparency bills, requiring disclosures when ads use AI-generated synthetic performers and mandating consent from heirs to use a person’s likeness after death.

Framed as a balance between innovation and protecting “flesh and blood” creators, the laws were celebrated by SAG-AFTRA leaders as essential guardrails against deepfakes, digital replicas, and misuse of performers’ identities, setting a precedent likely to influence national policy and future labor negotiations in the entertainment industry.