Today's AI Briefing

The White House wants to stop states from writing their own AI laws, someone got caught smuggling $2.5B in AI chips to China, and NVIDIA just open-sourced a model family that punches way above its weight.

01PolicyCNBC ↗

White House Unveils National AI Legislative Framework to Preempt State Laws

The Trump administration released a comprehensive AI legislative framework on March 20, proposing six guiding principles covering child safety, community protection, intellectual property, free speech, innovation, and workforce development. The framework urges Congress to federally preempt state AI laws and take a 'light-touch' regulatory approach without creating a new rulemaking body. This matters because it would replace the emerging patchwork of state-level AI regulations with a unified national standard, fundamentally reshaping how AI companies navigate compliance in the US.

02Open SourceNVIDIA Newsroom ↗

NVIDIA Debuts Nemotron 3 Open Model Family at GTC 2026

NVIDIA launched the Nemotron 3 family of open models — Nano, Super, and Ultra — built on a hybrid Mamba-Transformer mixture-of-experts architecture supporting up to 1M token context. Nemotron 3 Super, at 120B parameters with 12B active, scored 85.6% on PinchBench, making it the top open model in its class for agentic AI. This release is significant because it provides developers with efficient, open-weight models optimized for NVIDIA hardware that can power complex agentic workflows, multimodal reasoning, and real-time voice applications.

03IndustryAl Jazeera ↗

Three Charged with Smuggling $2.5 Billion in AI Chips to China

Three individuals associated with AI server maker Super Micro Computer were charged in the US with helping smuggle at least $2.5 billion worth of American AI technology to China, violating export controls. The case underscores the intensifying US-China tech competition and the lengths to which actors will go to circumvent AI chip export restrictions. This is significant because it represents one of the largest AI-related export control enforcement actions to date and will likely fuel calls for even stricter controls on advanced semiconductor exports.

04PolicyEuropean Council ↗

EU Council Agrees to Streamline and Delay AI Act High-Risk Rules

The European Council agreed on March 13 to adjust the timeline for applying rules on high-risk AI systems by up to 16 months, giving companies more time to comply while the Commission confirms that the needed standards and tools are available. The package includes proposals for two regulations aiming to simplify the EU's digital legislative framework. This matters because it signals the EU is acknowledging that its ambitious AI Act implementation timeline was unrealistic, and the delay gives companies — especially those operating across the Atlantic — crucial breathing room to prepare for compliance.

05IndustryMountain View Voice ↗

OpenAI Signs 10-Year Lease for 450,000 Sq Ft Mountain View Campus

OpenAI signed a 10-year lease for nearly 450,000 square feet of office space at 350-380 Ellis Street in Mountain View, just blocks from Google and Waymo headquarters. The deal includes an option to purchase the buildings and two six-year extension options. This expansion signals OpenAI's transition from a San Francisco startup to a full-scale Silicon Valley enterprise, and its proximity to Google's headquarters adds a symbolic dimension to the intensifying competition between the two AI giants.