WASHINGTON – The Trump administration today unveiled “America’s AI Action Plan,” a sweeping blueprint containing over 90 policy goals aimed at accelerating U.S. artificial intelligence innovation. This plan signals a significant shift from prior regulations, focusing on deregulation to fuel AI development rather than addressing concerns like misinformation or environmental impact.
The 23-page document, subtitled “winning the race,” outlines policy decisions for implementation over the next year. It seeks to remove regulations the administration deems restrictive to the nation’s AI advancements.
Michael Kratsios, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, stated that the administration plans to consult with the AI industry and other stakeholders to finalize details. He drew a stark contrast with Biden-era regulations, comparing them to European Commission rules and asserting, “we cannot afford to go down Europe’s innovation-killing regulatory path.”
U.S. President Trump emphasized in the plan that achieving global technological dominance is a “national security imperative.” He believes this requires unleashing “the full power of American innovation,” which the AI Action Plan aims to do by deregulating AI research and development.
How the Trump administration plans to reshape national AI development
The plan is structured around three key pillars: innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security.
Under the innovation pillar, the administration intends to support AI adoption within the federal government and foster open-source model development. A significant proposal involves amending the NIST AI Risk Management Framework to remove references to misinformation, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and climate change.
The government also plans to scrutinize large language models (LLMs) to ensure they are “objective and free from top-down ideological bias.” While the evaluation method remains unclear, the administration intends to withhold government contracts from companies failing to meet this standard.
Additionally, the Departments of Labor and Education will focus on AI skill development to “empower American workers in the age of AI.”
The infrastructure pillar aims to bolster U.S. AI infrastructure by streamlining permits for data centers and reducing or eliminating climate-related restrictions. This includes easing regulations tied to the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, along with other environmental standards.
Expanding and stabilizing the U.S. electrical grid, enhancing cybersecurity defenses, and establishing federal AI incident response plans are also part of this pillar.
The international diplomacy and security pillar focuses on boosting U.S. AI and technology exports to allies while tightening export controls for “countries of concern.” The Development Finance Corporation and Export-Import Bank will provide financing for AI export packages to nations that align with America’s AI alliance.
For countries deemed a concern, the administration will strictly enforce export controls on technology vital for semiconductor manufacturing. These controls will extend beyond major fabrication systems to include component sub-systems, with the federal government monitoring and enforcing these regulations on foreign exports.
“This would include monitoring emerging technology developments in AI compute to ensure full coverage of possible countries or regions where chips are being diverted,” the plan states. “This enhanced monitoring could then be used to expand and increase end-use monitoring in countries where there is a high risk of diversion of advanced, U.S.-origin AI compute.”
What this means for AI development in the U.S.
Current Biden-era regulations require AI development to meet standards addressing misinformation risks and the climate impact of infrastructure. The Trump administration’s plan aims to reverse many of these, with Kratsios believing that reducing “red tape” will spur U.S. AI innovation.
While the plan outlines policy goals for “near-term execution,” implementation will not be immediate. Some changes may occur via executive orders from President Trump, while others could take more time.
Certain aspects of the AI Action Plan, particularly those concerning DEI and ideological bias, could face legal challenges. Rory Little, a professor at UC San Francisco School of Law, told Yahoo Finance that these provisions might be contested as content-based discrimination. However, experts like Little suggest that AI companies seeking government contracts may comply with the administration’s directives, even if they are legally questionable.
The full impact of the Trump administration’s policy goals on AI development in the U.S. remains to be seen as they are implemented.
