AI Policy & Regulation Weekly

AI Policy & Regulation Weekly — May 19–25, 2026

This week: the EU agreed to extend AI Act compliance deadlines by 12–16 months while adding new bans on non-consensual AI intimate imagery. The Trump administration pulled an AI oversight executive order hours before signing. California enacted the US's first AI worker-protection executive order. New York, Connecticut, and Colorado signed or advanced major AI legislation. China issued its first emotional-AI companion rules. The UK and Australia formalized a bilateral AI safety institute partnership.