White House to launch plan to boost US AI globally, limit foreign curbs

Business Standard

4 days ago

The plan will 'focus on empowering American workers through AI-enabled job creation and industry breakthroughs'
Reuters WASHINGTON
The White House intends to publish a plan on Wednesday that calls for the export of American AI technology abroad and a crackdown on state laws deemed too restrictive to let it flourish, a document seen by Reuters shows.
According to a summary of the draft plan seen by Reuters, the White House will bar federal AI funding from going to states with tough AI rules and ask the Federal Communications Commission to assess whether state laws conflict with its mandate.
It will also promote open source and open weight AI development and "export American AI technologies through full-stack deployment packages" and data center initiatives led by the Commerce Department.
The plan will "focus on empowering American workers through AI-enabled job creation and industry breakthroughs," according to the document.
Janet Egan, a fellow at The Center for a New American Security, said the plan, as described by Reuters, represents a market shift in strategy from "a primarily restrictive approach to AI" under Biden to a focus on answering the question "how do you start spreading the infrastructure and the technology that will underpin the globe?"
Despite the focus on expansion, the plan does mention the importance of "defending against misuse and preparing for future AI-related risks," according to the summary.
US President Donald Trump ordered his administration in January to produce a plan that would make "America the world capital in artificial intelligence" and reduce regulatory barriers to its rapid expansion.
That report, which includes input from the National Security Council, is due by Wednesday. Trump is set to mark that deadline with a major speech as part of an event titled Winning the AI Race, organized by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and his co-hosts on the All-In podcast.
"The Plan will deliver a strong, specific, and actionable federal policy roadmap that goes beyond the details reported here and we look forward to releasing it soon, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita said in a statement.
Trump is laser-focused on removing barriers to AI expansion, a marked departure from his predecessor, Joe Biden, who feared US adversaries like China could harness AI to supercharge its military and harm allies.
Biden, who left office in January, imposed a raft of restrictions on exports of coveted American AI chips to China and other countries that could use or divert the semiconductors to China over national security concerns.
Trump rescinded Biden's executive order aimed at promoting competition, protecting consumers and ensuring AI was not used for misinformation. He also pulled back Biden's so-called AI diffusion rule, which capped the amount of American AI computing capacity that some countries were allowed to obtain via US AI chip imports.
Last month, Sacks downplayed the risk that coveted American AI chips could be smuggled to bad actors and expressed concern that regulating US AI too tightly could stifle growth and cede the critical market to China.
Under Trump's plan, the White House would also promote AI use at the Pentagon, launch a program to identify federal regulations that impede AI development and streamline the permitting process for data center construction.