Trump's AI strategy strips away regulations and delivers a wish-list to Big Tech industries
The White House announced its AI Action Plan on Wednesday, marking a significant step towards accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) development and securing U.S. leadership in global AI markets. The plan, unveiled on July 23, 2025, emphasizes deregulation, rapid innovation, and leadership through investment and export controls.
The U.S. AI Action Plan directs federal agencies and states to aggressively roll back existing AI regulations, linking deregulation to federal funding. The plan prioritizes boosting AI investment, talent development, and maintaining U.S. leadership and security in global AI markets. It focuses on enabling innovation and infrastructure expansion, fast-tracking data centers, promoting AI exports to allies, and enforcing export restrictions against competitors.
The plan also includes a training program to develop more skilled workers in supporting roles such as electricians and HVAC specialists, from adult to high-school level. A significant emphasis is placed on workforce development and safeguarding against foreign adversaries.
In contrast to the U.S. approach, the European Union’s AI regulation, embodied by the EU AI Act, adopts a comprehensive, risk-based regulatory framework with phased implementation, strict conformity assessments, and significant compliance obligations, especially for high-risk AI applications.
The U.S. strategy prioritizes deregulation and competitiveness, encouraging innovation and infrastructure investment with a lighter regulatory touch, while the EU embraces a precautionary, comprehensive regulatory framework centered on risk management, compliance, and ethical considerations.
The U.S. AI Action Plan extends to state-level AI rules and the military, providing a "virtual proving ground" for AI and autonomous systems in the Department of Defense (DoD). The plan also calls for a widespread grid modernization program to bring all electricity resources up to baseline standards for resource adequacy.
The plan continues support for domestic semiconductor manufacturing to support the AI industry, but will strip away some of the CHIPS Act's funding conditions, potentially including inclusivity requirements. The diplomacy section of the plan describes an American AI alliance (a club of allies that get access to US AI tech stacks) and proposes measures to stop these reaching countries it doesn't like, using location verification features and intelligence community monitoring.
The plan also includes industry-specific regulatory sandboxes to help AI innovators experiment. Datacenter operators can expect more leeway in construction, with permits loosening restrictions when building around wetlands and other protected waters. The Federal Trade Commission is asked to defang itself and sideline investigations that it sees as a burden to AI innovation.
The plan will standardize federal AI procurement using a "procurement toolbox" led by the General Services Administration (GSA). The DoD is required to prioritize and migrate workflows to AI, which might involve the department's pointy end activities.
The plan also addresses concerns about ideological bias in AI models and is considering a possible NIST-controlled "Guardians of Forensic Evidence" deepfake evaluation program and a deepfake standard for the Department of Justice (DoJ). The Federal Communications Commission is called upon to examine whether state regulations interfere with its operations.
The plan also includes a DoD-led secure AI push and a standard on information assurance led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The plan will work to fold AI-specific language into existing incident response doctrine.
Lastly, the plan calls for creation of an AI-Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) that would join the existing network of such centers. The plan also connects researchers to AI resources through a resource network and promotes open-source and open-weight models among Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs).
In summary, the U.S. AI Action Plan aims to accelerate AI development and infrastructure growth, while ensuring U.S. leadership and security in global AI markets. The plan prioritizes deregulation, innovation, and workforce development, with a focus on securing AI systems and data. The plan also addresses concerns about ideological bias in AI models and deepfakes, and promotes open-source AI development among SMBs.
- The U.S. AI Action Plan recommends the relaxation of AI regulations for federal agencies and states, linking it to federal funding as a means for rapid AI development and securing U.S. leadership.
- The plan emphasizes the need for workforce development in support roles like electricians and HVAC specialists to boost talents in the rapidly growing AI sector.
- The strategy advocates for a lighter regulatory touch on infrastructure investment, such as easing construction regulations for datacenter operators near protected waters.
- To ensure the security of AI systems and data, the plan includes a DoD-led secure AI push and a standard on information assurance led by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
- The U.S. AI Action Plan advocates promoting open-source and open-weight AI models among Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs), connecting researchers to AI resources through a resource network.
