Five Things to Know About Donald Trump’s “AI Action Plan” for Government Regulation

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On Wednesday, true to his word, President Donald Trump unveiled the long-awaited AI Action Plan. This announcement follows his decision to rescind the AI-related executive order issued by his predecessor Joe Biden, which was over 100 pages long, shortly after taking office and hinting that a replacement would be presented in July.

* Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bill of Rights: This sets guidelines to ensure that AI systems are transparent, accountable, and fair in their decision-making processes.
* Promoting Responsible Innovation: The plan encourages collaboration between the private sector, government, and academia for responsible development and deployment of AI technologies.
* Addressing Workforce Impact: The proposal emphasizes on retraining workers displaced by AI to prepare them for new job opportunities in the digital economy.
* AI Research and Development (R&D): The plan calls for increased investment in AI R&D, with a focus on areas like national security, healthcare, and education.
* International Cooperation: The report highlights the importance of international collaboration to develop shared principles and norms for AI development and use.

In essence, the White House’s AI plan seeks to promote ethical and responsible AI development while addressing concerns related to job displacement and international cooperation in this rapidly evolving field.

This eviscerates Biden’s actions.

Biden’s actions in regards to AI regulation were rather limited due to legal constraints. Unlike the groundbreaking European AI Act, which has the authority to halt high-risk AI development and demands transparency for even lower-risk applications, Biden’s plan was largely symbolic and diplomatic. It proposed guidelines that could be enforced by the Commerce Department, with an underlying tone of “if you could help us, that would be great.” The most significant aspect was encouraging tech companies to disclose how their models function to government agencies prior to public release. However, the methods of enforcement were uncertain. Essentially, it was a demonstration of the White House’s limited power to maintain control over AI development before its potential dangers became evident. The title itself, “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” set a precedent for future actions in this area. However, these measures have since been largely abandoned.

This replaces those actions with … not much.

As a passionate gamer today, I delved into the document and found regulation to be scarcely present. The term was mentioned, but mostly preceded by words like “onerous,” “unnecessary,” and “burdensome.” However, the word “compete” or its variants popped up eight times. It’s not rocket science or a deep dive into civics to understand this: it’s essentially, “carry on with your plans.” This aligns perfectly with our prior knowledge that tech giants won’t face significant federal oversight when developing and deploying new technologies. Tech heavyweights like Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, and others who moved from the Democrats to Trump in search of unrestricted freedom saw their strategy bear fruit today.

For those wishing to construct energy-intensive data centers, there’s a nod with the phrase “Build American AI Infrastructure … Create Streamlined Permitting for Data Centers, Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities, and Energy Infrastructure.” The question of whether this infrastructure will be environmentally friendly was addressed: the document states that America’s environmental regulations make it challenging to build such infrastructure at the necessary speed.

This news is a double-edged sword for Hollywood. On one hand, studios and producers now have more freedom to use AI as they see fit. On the other hand, AI companies can potentially expand into Hollywood’s territory without much restriction.

China is the threat … and the opportunity?

The document presents an intriguing paradox regarding China, particularly in terms of regulations. On one side, China is portrayed as an obstacle needing deregulation. For instance, Trump’s statement, “As our global competitors race to exploit these technologies, it is a national security imperative for the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance,” emphasizes the need for minimal regulation. On the flip side, China is also viewed as a valuable trading partner, with tech companies gaining significant profits from sales in China. Trump himself has lifted restrictions on Nvidia selling chips to China, which will generate billions for the company. The document further suggests exporting American AI technology to allies and partners worldwide, implying that the U.S. should meet global demand for AI. However, it fails to specify who these allies are or what standards would be set. Additionally, while the document acknowledges the need to “counter Chinese Influence in International Governance Bodies,” this statement essentially means preventing China from imposing regulations that could hinder U.S. interests.

Wokeness is bizarrely a main concern.

Among the various issues that concern AI Safety proponents, bias and hate speech rank particularly high. Other pressing matters include social distortion, misinformation, copyright violations, job dislocation, and numerous other imminent worries. However, one issue that doesn’t seem to be a significant concern is the inability of bots to cause excessive trolling. This might be because current safeguards are not overly restrictive (as evident when Grok lost its sanity a few weeks ago and began spreading antisemitic slurs), or because AI isn’t inherently tied to social media platforms, making content moderation less applicable in the same manner. Surprisingly, the potential for AI to engage in trolling has become a point of contention, with subtle hints that tech companies should “maintain free speech in innovative models” and the US Government should “only collaborate with large language model developers who guarantee their systems are impartial and devoid of ideological bias from above.” Fortunately, this appears to be largely performative rhetoric, as AI learns from vast amounts of data, making it difficult even for tech companies to discern what it is learning, let alone for a bureaucrat to monitor the same.

Will there be any resistance to the moves?

The MAGA movement has a tech-oriented, populist following, spearheaded by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Although he’s been relatively silent on this issue, he has expressed concerns about companies like Google overtaking what doesn’t belong to them and advocates for finding ways to return control to individuals over their images, property, and lives. However, during the Big Beautiful Bill debate, his efforts didn’t lead to any significant action. The states still have room to maneuver, and thanks to a clause removed from that bill, they are not legally restricted from regulating AI (though many have yet to do so). California is one such example. Legal battles, like the Disney-Midjourney lawsuit, are being waged over what AI companies can claim ownership of. In many instances, the resolution might come through court decisions rather than legislative action.

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2025-07-24 01:57