\n<\/p>\n
The Trump administration published its much-anticipated AI Action Plan<\/a> on Wednesday, a document that takes a sharp shift away from former President Biden\u2019s cautious approach to addressing the risks of AI,\u00a0and instead barrels ahead with plans to build out AI infrastructure, cut red tape for tech companies, shore up national security, and compete with China.\u00a0<\/p>\n The downstream effects of this shift will likely ripple throughout various industries and may even be felt by the average American consumer. For instance, the AI Action Plan downplays efforts to mitigate possible harms of AI and instead prioritizes building out data centers<\/a> to power the AI industry, even if it means using federal lands or keeping them powered during critical energy grid periods.\u00a0<\/p>\n Much of its effects, however, will depend on how the AI Action Plan is executed, and many of those details have yet to be sorted. The AI Action Plan is more blueprint for action than a step-by-step instruction book. But the direction is clear: progress is king. <\/p>\n The Trump administration positions this as the only way to \u201cusher in a new golden age of human flourishing.\u201d Its goal is to convince the American public that spending billions of taxpayer dollars on building data centers is in their best interest. Parts of the plan also include policy suggestions around upskilling workers and partnering with local governments to create jobs related to working in data centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation,\u201d Trump said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cTo do that, we will continue to reject radical climate dogma and bureaucratic red tape, as the Administration has done since Inauguration Day. Simply put, we need to \u2018Build, Baby, Build!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The AI Action Plan is authored by the Trump administration\u2019s team of technology and AI specialists, many of whom come from Silicon Valley companies. This includes Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Marco Rubio. More than 10,000 interest groups submitted public comments that were considered for the plan.<\/p>\n At the start of this month, the Senate removed a controversial provision<\/a> in the budget bill that would bar states from regulating AI for 10 years<\/a>. That provision, if it had been included in the bill, would tie states\u2019 federal broadband funding to compliance with the moratorium.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> It appears that matter hasn\u2019t been put to rest yet, as the AI Action Plan explores a new way to hinder states from regulating AI. As part of a broader mission to \u201cunleash prosperity through deregulation,\u201d the administration threatens to limit states\u2019 federal funding based on their AI regulations. <\/p>\n The plan also directs the Federal Communications Commission to \u201cevaluate whether state AI regulations interfere with the agency\u2019s ability to carry out its obligations and authorities.\u201d In other words, if state AI regulations touch on radio, TV, and internet \u2013 which many do \u2013 then the FCC can get involved.<\/p>\n On the federal level, the action plan directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to ask businesses and the public about any current federal regulations that hinder AI innovation and adoption so that federal agencies can take appropriate action.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s call for deregulation extends to how the administration hopes to accelerate the buildout of AI-related infrastructure, like data centers<\/a>, semiconductor fabs, and power sources. The administration argues that existing environmental regulations \u2013 like NEPA, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act \u2014 are hindering America\u2019s need to meet the rapid demands of the AI arms race.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Trump\u2019s AI Action Plan places an emphasis on stabilizing America\u2019s energy grid. At the same time, the plan asks the federal government to find new ways to ensure large power consumers \u2014 such as AI companies \u2014 can manage their power consumption during critical grid periods.<\/p>\n Certain companies, like xAI and Meta<\/a>, have been criticized for concentrating pollution in vulnerable communities. Critics have accused xAI <\/a>of bypassing environmental safeguards and exposing residents to harmful emissions from gas-powered turbines with its Memphis data center.\u00a0<\/p>\n The action plan calls for creating categorical exclusions, streamlining permitting processes, and expanding the use of fast-track programs like FAST-41 to make it easier for companies to build critical AI infrastructure, especially on federal lands, which includes National Parks, federally protected wilderness areas, as well as military bases. <\/p>\n Tying back to other Trump themes of beating China, the strategy focuses on locking out foreign tech and emphasizing security protections to keep \u201cadversarial technology\u201d \u2013 like Chinese-made chips and hardware \u2013 out of the U.S. supply chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the main standouts in Trump\u2019s AI Action plan is a focus on protecting free speech and \u201cAmerican values,\u201d in part by eliminating references to misinformation, DEI, and climate change from federal risk assessment frameworks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is essential that these systems be built from the ground up with freedom of speech and expression in mind, and that U.S. government policy does not interfere with that objective,\u201d the plan reads. \u201cWe must ensure that free speech flourishes in the era of AI and that AI procured by the Federal government objectively reflects truth rather than social engineering agendas.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the intention to ensure that government policy doesn\u2019t interfere with freedom of speech, the AI Action Plan has the potential to do just that.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the recommended policy actions is to update federal procurement guidelines to ensure the government only contracts with frontier large language model developers who \u201censure their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That language is similar to what The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> would be in Trump\u2019s executive order, which he is expected to be released later today.\u00a0<\/p>\n The problem is that achieving objectivity is hard, and the government has not yet defined how it plans to evaluate models on the basis of neutrality.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe only way to be neutral would be literal non-engagement,\u201d Rumman Chowdhury, a data scientist, CEO of the tech nonprofit Humane Intelligence, and former U.S. science envoy for AI, told TechCrunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anthropic, xAI, Google, and OpenAI have all secured government contracts worth up to $200 million <\/a>each to help integrate AI applications into the Department of Defense. The implications of Trump\u2019s policy suggestion, and his impending executive order, could be far-reaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, an order that says, \u2018We won\u2019t do any business, as to AI models or otherwise, with any company that produces a non-neutral AI model\u2019 would likely violate the First Amendment,\u201d Eugene Volokh, an American legal scholar who specializes in First Amendment and Second Amendment issues, said in an email. \u201cAn order that says, \u2018We will only enter into contracts to buy models that are sufficiently neutral\u2019 would be more constitutionally defensible, though of course implementing it effectively may be very difficult (partly because it\u2019s so hard to know what\u2019s \u2018neutral\u2019 in these situations).\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIf the order instructs agencies to select AIs based on a combination of accuracy and neutrality, leaving each agency with some latitude to decide what that means, that might be more viable.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s AI Action Plan aims to encourage the development and adoption of open AI models, which are free to download online, that are created with American values in mind. This largely seems to be a reaction to the rise of open AI models from Chinese AI labs, including DeepSeek<\/a> and Alibaba\u2019s Qwen<\/a>.<\/p>\n As part of his plan, Trump wants to ensure that startups and researchers working on open models have access to large computing clusters. These resources are expensive, and typically were only possible for tech companies that could strike million or billion-dollar contracts with cloud providers.<\/p>\n Trump also says he wants to partner with leading AI model developers to increase the research community\u2019s access to private AI models and data.<\/p>\n American AI companies and organizations that have taken an open approach \u2014 including Meta, AI2, and Hugging Face \u2014 could benefit from Trump\u2019s embrace of open AI.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s AI Action Plan includes some provisions to satisfy the AI safety community. One of those efforts includes launching a federal technological development program to research AI interpretability, AI control systems, and adversarial robustness. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s plan also instructs federal agencies including the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to host hackathons to test its AI systems for security vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s plan also acknowledges the risks of AI systems to contribute to cyberattacks, as well as the development of chemical and biological weapons. The plan asks frontier AI model developers to work with federal agencies to evaluate these risks, and how they could jeopardize America\u2019s national security.<\/p>\n Compared to Biden\u2019s AI executive order, Trump\u2019s plan puts less of a focus on requiring leading AI model developers to report safety and security standards. Many tech companies claim safety and security reporting is an \u201conerous\u201d task, which Trump seems to want to limit.<\/p>\n Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trump is bringing his war on China into the AI race with his action plan. A large part of Trump\u2019s AI Action Plan focuses on preventing \u201cnational security\u201d threats from accessing advanced AI technology.<\/p>\n Under Trump\u2019s plan, federal agencies will work together to collect intelligence on foreign frontier AI projects that could threaten American national security. In one of those efforts, the Department of Commerce is tasked with evaluating Chinese AI models for alignment with Chinese Communist Party talking points and censorship.<\/p>\n These groups will also conduct assessments on the level of AI adoption among America\u2019s adversaries.<\/p>\nDeregulation and bringing back the AI moratorium<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCutting red tape around data centers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Trump\u2019s war on \u2018biased AI\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Encouraging an open approach to AI<\/strong><\/h3>\n
AI safety and security<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Limiting China<\/strong><\/h3>\n
National security<\/strong><\/h2>\n