Today's Top Stories from NBC News

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2025

In today's newsletter: An executive order aims to tackle state regulation on artificial intelligence. An Obamacare exodus occurs before premium hikes. And, major flooding in the Pacific Northwest.

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▼ The Lead

Trump signs executive order seeking to ban states from regulating AI companies

(Alex Brandon / AP)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that seeks to limit states' ability to regulate artificial intelligence and upend existing laws in some of them.

The president said AI companies "want to be in the United States … But if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it."

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to create an "AI Litigation Task Force" within 30 days whose "sole responsibility shall be to challenge State AI laws" that clash with the Trump administration's vision for light-touch regulation.

The order also instructs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify existing state laws that "require AI models to alter their truthful outputs." States found to have these, and other "onerous" laws, may be required to enter into agreements not to enforce those statutes to receive discretionary federal funding.

The order comes in the aftermath of a failed push to enact similar policy in Congress in late November, which followed a similar unsuccessful attempt in July. House Republicans recently tried to include a provision in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act asserting that only the federal government could legislate AI; the effort faced backlash and the language was eventually removed.

Given the halting and slow-moving efforts to regulate AI at the federal level, critics of the executive order view it as an attempt to block all meaningful regulation on AI. They also have little faith in Congress to replace existing state laws with a nationwide standard.

Read the full story.

More AI news:

The Walt Disney Co. reached an agreement with OpenAI that would bring characters like Mickey Mouse, Stitch and Cinderella to the company's Sora video generator.

A bipartisan group of senators called on leaders in the AI industry to commit to publicly disclose more information about how the industry thinks about risk.

Time announced that it has recognized AI's seismic impact by naming the "Architects of AI" as its 2025 Person of the Year.

Fears of an AI bubble simmer on Wall Street, where even a slight earnings miss threatens to upend high-flying stocks. Oracle was the latest company to take a hit.

AI toys for sale this holiday season talk about sex and give Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests showed.

More Americans appear to be walking away from Affordable Care Act coverage or switching to cheaper plans for next year compared to last year, according to early enrollment data from several states.

State health officials in New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Colorado and California shared numbers from the first month of ACA open enrollment, which began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15 in most states. Idaho opened two weeks earlier.

It's too early to know whether the trend will hold, the officials said, noting that some people don't finalize their plans until the final days of open enrollment — Dec. 15 for those who want their coverage to start Jan. 1. But the preliminary numbers could reflect signs of financial strain for people who can't afford to pay hundreds of dollars more in monthly premiums once enhanced federal subsidies expire at the end of the year.

Read the full story.

More health news:

The Republican-controlled Senate voted to reject health care bills offered by each party.

A CDC study found that Covid vaccines continue to protect healthy children from severe illness.

A triple-negative breast cancer vaccine showed promise in an early clinical trial. More research is needed to determine whether it can stop the cancer from recurring.

The FDA announced a proposal to make another sunscreen ingredient available to U.S. manufacturers.

Washington flooding hits areas rebuilding from previous storms

Washington state is once again getting hammered by torrential rains and swelling rivers. Communities that have barely recovered from the last major series of storms are now facing another long rebuilding process.

John Perry, the mayor of Everson, Washington, described watching flood waters from the Nooksack River inundate his community as "déjà vu" — it's the second time in about four years that homes and businesses have been collateral damage to extreme weather.

About 100,000 people have been asked to evacuate their homes as a series of atmospheric river storms drenched the state this week, causing mudslides and shuttering highways. More than a dozen Washington rivers were expected to experience major flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

Read the full story.

▼ In Politics

The Department of Justice failed again to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James , its third attempt following a monthslong pressure campaign from the president.

The Trump administration plans to hold the oil tanker it seized near Venezuela at an American port in Texas but release the crew once the vessel docks.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was freed from ICE custody after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration lacked the legal authority to carry on holding him.

For the first time since Trump rolled out his sweeping global tariff program, month-over-month customs receipts declined in November.

The board of the Federal Reserve System said it had reappointed all regional Fed bank presidents, just days after the Trump administration began suggesting that it wanted to make major changes to the reappointment process.

▼ Read All About It

The Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk made his first in-person court appearance as his attorneys push to further limit media access in the high-profile criminal case.

Wenne Alton Davis, who appeared in the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," was killed in a car accident in New York.

Lindsey Vonn was once America's fastest skier. Now at 41, she looks to do it again at the Winter Olympics.

Premier League legend Mohamed Salah could soon be saying goodbye to Liverpool.

▼ Staff Pick

Fantasy diagnosis

When Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow went down with an injury early in the NFL season, my heart sank. Not because I root for Cincinnati. I play fantasy football and had hoped he would be a major contributor to my team's success.

I went on social media and within minutes found a speculative diagnosis and potential timetable for him to return from multiple medical professionals like Jesse Morse and Jeff Mueller. Both have full-time jobs treating, but they also spend hours each week educating football fans on injuries. And that begs the question: Are they actually qualified to provide accurate calls without X-rays or examining the player in person?

We spoke with a handful of medical professionals to learn about their motivation and process — and determine whether their analysis should be trusted.

— Greg Rosenstein, sports editor

▼ NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Here are the rules of gift-giving and receiving, according to two professional shoppers. Plus, Pinterest's top six trends to watch for in 2026.