Utah billboards call out David Sacks over AI bill
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A digital billboard for a Utah campaign targeting David Sacks. Courtesy: Child First Policy Center
Supporters of a Utah AI transparency bill are escalating their fight with the White House, taking it public with digital billboards in downtown Salt Lake City aimed at Trump AI adviser David Sacks.
Why it matters: The clash highlights a growing Republican split over who sets AI rules — the White House or the states — just as AI becomes a midterm flashpoint.
Driving the news: The White House earlier this month sent a one-line letter declaring its opposition to Utah's HB 286, the Artificial Intelligence Transparency Act, and calling it "an unfixable bill that goes against the Administration's AI Agenda."
- The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Doug Fiefia, echoes California's AI law that White House AI czar Sacks has criticized as contributing to a patchwork of state regulations.
The billboards say: "Hey, David Sacks. Stay away from our AI transparency bills. Utah families support HB286." Another billboard design says: "90% of Utahns support AI transparency and child safety legislation."
- The two digital billboard designs will rotate around four locations in downtown Salt Lake City for a week starting on Thursday, Melissa McKay, policy director for Utah-based advocacy group Child First Policy Center, told Axios.
- Child First Policy Center paid a "few thousand dollars" for the digital billboards campaign, per McKay.
What they're saying: "Utah families and child advocates categorically reject the idea that an unelected Silicon Valley adviser should be able to pressure our state into backing away from commonsense AI transparency measures designed to protect children and the public," McKay said.
The other side: The administration "fully supports child safety and has never told a State that it cannot enact child safety protections," a White House official said when asked about Utah's AI legislation and the billboard campaign.
About a dozen children's safety advocate organizations led by McKay's group wrote to Utah state legislative leaders this week, urging them to keep supporting HB 286, and also published an op-ed in the Deseret News.
- "We believe this opposition is misplaced, and that nothing in the bill runs counter to the priorities of the Republican Party," the letter to lawmakers reads.
- "Your constituents, including Utahn supporters of President Trump, are urging you to lead the way in establishing common sense guardrails around emerging technology once again."
The bottom line: The Republican-on-Republican fight in Utah exposes a major rift within the party on AI policy and offers an early test of just how aggressively the White House will push back on red state AI bills.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a response from the White House.
