Policy Dive: AI in the First Week of Trump

Written by Emily Wolfteich
Senior Industry Analyst

_{^{Image source: FotografieLink, istock.com}}

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) to “remove barriers to American AI innovation” and “take action to enhance America’s AI leadership.” This EO follows Trump’s day-one “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” a mandate that revokes 78 Biden-era executive orders. Among these was 2023’s Executive Order 14110, for the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.

The rescission of 14110 and subsequent new EO were not unexpected. The administration and Republican party writ large contend that EO 14110 was “dangerous” and promoted “left-wing ideas,” such as setting guardrails around privacy and discrimination and requiring developers to disclose potential security risks to the government. Where does federal guidance stand with the new President, and what does his new Executive Order mean for Americans?

Overall, the EO is vague, focusing on repealing rather than replacing with substantive guidance – that will have to wait several months until the Action Plan and new OMB guidance is released.

The Rundown

Given the EO and other statements made by the new administration, what can we expect going forward?

What’s Next?

New Guidance

The EO directs OMB to revise and reissue rules around AI acquisition and governance within 60 days, and a broader AI Action plan to be completed within six months.

Increased state-level AI regulations

State-level AI laws are likely to play a much larger role in regulation without federal oversight. Colorado, Utah, and Illinois have already enacted legislation focused on AI protections; New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia may follow suit.

Increased focus on compliance

Without federal regulatory standards for AI use, ensuring that AI systems comply with other laws around data privacy and usage will become even more important, as litigation may become a replacement for regulation.

The Takeaway

Trump’s view of AI development has changed even from his first term, when his administration wrote that AI development must happen “while maintaining the safety, security, civil liberties, privacy, and confidentiality protections we all expect.” His new Executive Order, combined with virulent takedowns of any indication of equity or anti-bias efforts across the government, indicates a preference for policies that will prioritize speed over safety, acquiesce to the desires of Big Tech at the expense of the environment and civil rights, and strip the government of much-needed guidance in how to implement AI safely. For the moment, the EO appears to be more of a blunt instrument than a thoughtful progression, creating more chaos than opportunity. It remains to be seen how the AI Action Plan and OMB guidance will address this vacuum of leadership.

Sir Demis Hassabis, the Nobel-Prize winning chief of Google DeepMind, warned in an interview about full-speed, guardrail-free AI development, saying “There’s much more at stake here than just companies or products [...] it’s the future of humanity, the human condition and where we want to go as a society.” Without measures in place, AI models have the potential to codify racism, sexism and homophobia, and income inequality, exacerbating existing cultural, class, and global divisions. States will likely step up to implement their own guidelines, resulting in an American patchwork of regulations that will create concerns (and lawsuits) around data usage and privacy, civil rights, and discrimination across state lines.

As the AI race heats up, with Chinese competitors outperforming US tech behemoths, the administration clearly feels pressure to maintain dominance. However, while the EO states that its goal is to “secure a brighter future for all Americans,” the winners — at least of this first iteration — are technology companies whose responsibility is to their stakeholders, not the American people.

To read additional thought leadership from Emily, connect with her on LinkedIn.