On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump unveiled the highly-anticipated AI Action Plan.
The executive order focuses on three major areas, or pillars designed to ensure U.S. AI dominance and promote economic progress domestically.
As expected, the executive order pulls back on regulations targeting tech companies described as "onerous" and "bureaucratic red tape," includes many provisions on expanding AI infrastructure within the country, and lays out a case for establishing U.S. AI technology as the global standard for "like-minded nations" over adversarial countries like China.
The lengthy and broad-sweeping document will be the subject of in-depth analysis for days to come, but there a several key policies that immediately stand out.
Trump wants "anti-woke" AI and control over state AI regulation
Within the document, the Trump Administration directs federal agencies to work with companies developing frontier large language models (LLMs) that "ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias," which is the formal way of addressing the AI models deemed too liberal-augmented or "woke." The announcement mandates, "AI systems must be free from ideological bias and be designed to pursue objective truth rather than social engineering agendas when users seek factual information or analysis."
As part of accelerating AI development, the executive order also directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to restrict federal funding for states whose regulations "may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award."
Data centers could be built on public land
The executive order's plan also focuses AI infrastructure and boosting AI manufacturing in the U.S. This includes building data centers, enabling easier access for permits by deregulating certain environmental standards, and upskilling relevant workforces like electricians and HVAC technicians.
This section also includes an alarming recommendation about using federal lands available for manufacturing data centers.
Trump wants to tighten access to American AI tech
A major pillar of the plan focuses on promoting American AI technology abroad. "The United States must meet global demand for AI by exporting its full AI technology stack—hardware, models, software, applications, and standards—to all countries willing to join America’s AI alliance. The executive order also directs the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Security Council (NSC) to strengthen exports control of valuable chips to make sure they don't wind up in "countries of concern."
Elsewhere, the order directs federal agencies focused on domestic labor and economics, to "study AI’s impact on the labor market," and build programs for retraining of workers impacted by AI job replacement.
Little discussed in the policy world until now, announcements addresses the sometime subjective and insufficient evaluations of AI models. Rigorous evaluations can be a critical tool in defining and measuring AI reliability and performance in regulated industries," the order said. "Over time, regulators should explore the use of evaluations in their application of existing law to AI systems."
There's lots to unpack here and even more to assess how theses mandates play out. Stay tuned for more of our coverage on what this means for the AI industry and its broader impact on our world.
