Candidates for state attorney general are campaigning on suing Big Tech, and that could shape the rules for social media and AI apps you use.
Running against Big Tech has become a winning pitch in races for state attorney general. Campaigns are spending nearly $200 million on these elections, and about half of the contests include ads from candidates who fought tech companies or promise to. Voters in 30 states will fill the office.
States are acting because Washington is not. Lawyers for Fortune 500 companies told Bloomberg Law that, with little action in Congress or interest from President Donald Trump, they now see states as the main regulators. State lawmakers passed more than 500 bills on AI use in the last two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The big trophy in many ads is a roughly $18 billion settlement Meta reached in August with 48 states. States had alleged that Facebook and Instagram were designed to addict children. Both Republican and Democratic candidates cite it. Incumbents in Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York and Wisconsin are running similar ads.
Meta is not the only target. Candidates also point to actions against Roblox and TikTok. In Florida, Attorney General James Uthmeier is running on his opposition to OpenAI, after a school shooter allegedly used ChatGPT as a planning tool before a 2025 shooting at Florida State University.
Christopher Allen, a lawyer at Cozen O'Connor, said the 1998 tobacco settlement, worth roughly $206 billion, showed states could act as national regulators. He said many states feel they missed their chance with online search and marketplaces, and now want to lead on social media and AI.
Anyone who uses social media or AI apps, or sells online, may feel the effects. Settlements can change how a platform works. Political analyst Louis Jacobson sees the tech message as an appeal to voters worried about costs, a return to consumer-focused lawsuits.
Some races look like toss-ups, about 10 in all. More lawsuits against tech companies are piling up. The material does not say how any single race will end, or what new rules might follow.
Your state attorney general may shape how social media and AI apps work, so it is worth knowing where candidates stand on tech.
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