Latest news with #executiveorders
Wall Street Journal
3 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
WSJ Reporter Explains Trump's Plan for the U.S. to Dominate Global AI Race
WSJ Reporter Explains Trump's Plan for the U.S. to Dominate Global AI Race WSJ's Amrith Ramkumar reports from an AI summit in Washington, D.C., where President Trump signed executive orders designed to accelerate the already booming AI industry in the U.S. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump signs trio of AI executive orders
This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: President Donald Trump signed a trio of executive orders targeting AI infrastructure, exports and development on Wednesday during a summit in Washington D.C. The sweeping executive orders aim to, in part, fast-track federal permitting, streamline reviews and expedite construction of major AI infrastructure projects. Increasing AI exports is another focus. The administration also banned the federal government from procuring AI that 'has been infused with partisan bias,' Trump said. 'From this day forward, it will be a policy of the United States to do whatever it takes to lead the world in artificial intelligence,' Trump said during the event. 'America is the country that started the AI race. I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it.' Dive Insight: The executive orders come just hours after the administration released its AI Action Plan, which identified 90-plus federal policy actions on infrastructure, innovation, and international diplomacy and security. 'There's a global competition now to lead in artificial intelligence, so we want the United States to win that race,' David Sacks, White House AI and crypto czar, said Wednesday during a press call. Stemming from an earlier executive order, the AI Action Plan represents the most comprehensive view of the direction of federal AI governance since the president's second term started in January. The plan also symbolizes a sharper shift from Biden-era rules, which Trump rescinded as part of his initial shaping of oversight. The report outlined a number of policies that would impact enterprises, such as the recommendation to establish regulatory sandboxes around the country for researchers, startups and large organizations to deploy and test AI tools. Another directive included a push for public and private sector stakeholders to accelerate the development and adoption of domain-specific national standards for AI systems. 'The bottleneck to harnessing AI's full potential is not necessarily the availability of models, tools, or applications," the document states. 'Rather, it is the limited and slow adoption of AI, particularly within large, established organizations.' The plan also seeks to address some of the capacity issues enterprises are facing via streamlined permitting for data centers — along with other measures. 'Although many CIOs want to implement AI within their organizations, there remain significant concerns about whether the systems will be reliable both from a performance and a hallucination perspective,' Ram Bala, associate professor at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, said in an email. 'Building of data centers addresses the hardware capacity issue and improves operational performance.' CIOs could also feel more confident embarking on AI journeys given the federal push, Bala said. Before the action plan and executive orders Wednesday, the president signed a directive around AI training in April and has promoted an AI infrastructure push. The administration has also taken aim at evolving state-level AI laws and spoken out against 'AI doomerism.' A senior White House official confirmed that future moves will align with the action plan. 'Instead of cultivating skepticism, our policy is to encourage and enable AI adoption across government and the private sector,' said Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president and White House Office of Science and Technology policy director, during the Wednesday call. Responses to the AI action plan have been swift and divided. Leaders from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Department of Labor were quick to applaud the report. The Software and Information Industry Association and the Center for Data Innovation also welcomed the plan. Some groups have criticized the continued push for limiting state laws in the report, which directs the Federal Communications Commission to evaluate whether state AI regulations interfere with the agency's ability to carry out its obligations. The plan also recommends the federal government withhold funding from states with 'burdensome AI regulations.' 'This preemption effort stifles local initiatives to uphold civil rights and shield communities from biased AI systems in areas like employment, education, health care, and policing,' Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union's National Political Advocacy department, said in a statement. Venzke also spoke out against the report's policy recommendation to revise the National Institute of Standards and Technology AI Risk Management Framework to eliminate references to misinformation, diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change. The report stops short of addressing AI agents, copyright and intellectual property issues.
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Trump signs three executive orders targeting ‘woke' AI models
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a trio of executive orders that he vowed would turn the United States into an 'AI export powerhouse', including a directive targeting what the White House described as 'woke' artificial intelligence models. The anti-woke order is part of the administration's broader anti-diversity campaign that has also targeted federal agencies, academic institutions and the military. 'The American people do not want woke Marxist lunacy in the AI models, and neither do other countries,' Trump said during remarks at an AI summit in Washington on Wednesday. Trump also signed orders aimed at expediting federal permitting for datacentre infrastructure and promoting the export of American AI models. The executive actions coincide with the Trump administration's release of a broader, 24-page 'AI action plan' that seeks to expand the use of AI in the federal government as well as position the US as the global leader in artificial intelligence. 'Winning this competition will be a test of our capacities unlike anything since the dawn of the space age,' Trump told an audience of AI industry leaders, adding: 'We need US technology companies to be all-in for America. We want you to put America first.' The metrics of what make an AI model politically biased are extremely contentious and open to interpretation, however, and therefore may allow the administration to use the order to target companies at its own discretion. The action plan, titled 'Winning the Race', is a long-promised document that was announced shortly after Trump took office and repealed a Biden administration order on AI that mandated some safeguards and standards on the technology. It outlines the White House's vision for governing artificial intelligence in the US, vowing to speed up the development of the fast-growing technology by removing 'red tape and onerous regulation'. During his remarks, Trump also proposed a more nominal change. 'I can't stand it,' he said, referring to the use of the word 'artificial'. 'I don't even like the name, you know? I don't like anything that's artificial. So could we straighten that out, please? We should change the name. I actually mean that.' 'It's not artificial. It's genius,' he added. A second order Trump signed on Wednesday calls for deregulating AI development, increasing the building of datacentres and removing environmental protections that could hamper their construction. Datacentres that house the servers for AI models require immense amounts of water and energy to function, as well as produce greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental groups have warned about harmful increases to air and noise pollution as tech companies build more facilities, while a number of local communities have pushed back against their construction. In addition to easing permitting laws and emphasizing the need for more energy infrastructure, both measures that tech companies have lobbied for, Trump's order also frames the AI race as a contest for geopolitical dominance. China has invested billions into the manufacturing of AI chips and datacentres to become a competitor in the industry, while Chinese companies such as Deepseek have released AI models that rival Silicon Valley's output. While Trump's plan seeks to address fears of China as an AI superpower, the Trump administration's move against 'woke' AI echoes longstanding conservative grievances against tech companies, which Republicans have accused of possessing liberal biases and suppressing rightwing ideology. As generative AI has become more prominent in recent years, that criticism has shifted from concerns over internet search results or anti-misinformation policies into anger against AI chatbots and image generators. Sign up to TechScape A weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives after newsletter promotion One of the biggest critics of perceived liberal bias in AI is Elon Musk, who has vowed to make his xAI company and its Grok chatbot 'anti-woke'. Although Musk and Donald Trump are still locked in a feud after their public falling out last month, Musk may stand to benefit from Trump's order given his emphasis on controlling AI's political outputs. Musk has consistently criticized AI models, including his own, for failing to generate what he sees as sufficiently conservative views. He has claimed that xAI has reworked Grok to eliminate liberal bias, and the chatbot has occasionally posted white supremacist and antisemitic content. In May, Grok affirmed white supremacist conspiracies that a 'white genocide' was taking place in South Africa and said it was 'instructed by my creators' to do so. Earlier this month, Grok also posted pro-Nazi ideology and rape fantasies while identifying itself as 'MechaHitler' until the company was forced to intervene. Despite Grok's promotion of Nazism, xAI was among several AI companies that the Department of Defense awarded with up to $200m contracts this month to develop tools for the government. OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, all of which have their own proprietary AI models, were the other recipients. Conservatives have singled out incidents such as Google's Gemini image generator inaccurately producing racially diverse depictions of historical figures such as German second world war soldiers as proof of liberal bias. AI experts have meanwhile long warned about problems of racial and gender bias in the creation of artificial intelligence models, which are trained on content such as social media posts, news articles and other forms of media that may contain stereotypes or discriminatory material that gets incorporated into these tools. Researchers have found that these biases have persisted despite advancements in AI, with models often replicating existing social prejudices in their outputs. Conflict over biases in AI have also led to turmoil in the industry. In 2020, the co-lead of Google's 'ethical AI' team Timnit Gebru said she was fired after she expressed concerns of biases being built into the company's AI models and a broader lack of diversity efforts at the company. Google said she resigned.
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
What Trump's AI Action Plan Means For U.S. Tech Leadership
Washington, DC - January 23: AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks speaks with President Donald J Trump as ... More he signs executive orders in the Oval Office. On July 23, the Trump administration released its 'Winning the Race – America's AI Action Plan.' The administration's new AI action plan comes after months of policy shifts, industry dealmaking and public input. Here is a breakdown of what it contains and how we got to this point. In the plan's preamble, President Trump states: 'Today, a new frontier of scientific discovery lies before us, defined by transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence… Breakthroughs in these fields have the potential to reshape the global balance of power, spark entirely new industries, and revolutionize the way we live and work. As our global competitors race to exploit these technologies, it is a national security imperative for the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance.' This sets the stage for a plan that acts as a blueprint for an acceleration strategy prioritizing infrastructure investment and innovation over regulation. The Journey of AI And American Leadership The administration's focus on AI dates from Trump's first term, when he became the first president to issue an executive order on the topic. Since 2019, maintaining and extending American leadership has been the priority. During the first week of his second presidential term, he issued a new directive to remove barriers to American leadership in AI, setting the tone for deregulation and positioning AI at the center of the U.S. geopolitical, trade and economic strategy. The plan announcement followed a flurry of activity during the first 180 days of Trump's second term. It started with the revocation, on inauguration day, of Biden's AI executive order viewed as an inhibitor to innovation with regulatory overtones, emphasis on equity, civil rights, enforcement of consumer protection laws and safeguards against bias, discrimination, infringements on privacy and other harms from AI. The January 23 executive order set the stage for 'innovation, driven by the strength of our free markets, world-class research institutions, and entrepreneurial spirit,' and asked for the creation of an action plan to 'sustain and enhance America's global AI dominance.' The National Science Foundation followed with a request for information to support the development of the plan. This resulted in more than 10,000 responses and exposed a divide between the industry and civil society. The industry supported the push for global leadership and resisted regulation. Civil society yearned for accountability and expressed concerns about job loss, copyright infringement, disinformation and privacy. Two major announcements signaled the private sector's central role in AI infrastructure buildout. In January, OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX launched Stargate, a $500 billion initiative to expand U.S. AI capacity. In July, companies pledged over $90 billion at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit to fund data centers and power infrastructure. Both efforts underscore a market-led push to scale AI while advancing U.S. technological dominance. On the government side, the White House moved to harness federal purchasing power to steer AI development. In April, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to appoint chief AI officers, publish AI strategies, and set rules for using powerful systems like generative AI. Their 'AI Use Memo' encouraged agency AI adoption and the removal of risk-averse barriers to innovation. A companion 'AI Procurement Memo' focused on buying American-made AI tools and simplifying procurement. Together, the policies use public-sector demand to influence industry behavior. Export controls on advanced AI chips also shifted sharply this year. In April, the administration imposed a ban on Nvidia's and AMD's processors, citing national security and limiting China's access. But by July, as part of a rare earths trade deal, restrictions were eased to allow sales with export licenses. Supporters said the move balanced security with economic interests; critics warned it could erode America's competitive edge. This policy reversal marked a notable departure from the Biden-era AI Diffusion framework. On the legislative front, Congress rejected a House-passed 10-year moratorium on state AI regulations when the Senate voted 99–1 to strip it from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Instead, H.R. 1 was enacted, allocating funds for AI in defense, transformational AI models at the Department of Energy, and tech solutions for rural hospitals. With states able to legislate freely, the move increased pressure on the White House and Congress to work on federal legislation or preemption to avoid a patchwork of state laws. The AI Action Plan Unveiled at the 'Winning the AI Race' summit on July 23, the plan crystallizes a vision to ensure U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence. Introduced by President Trump and top officials, the plan rests on three pillars: accelerating innovation, building AI infrastructure, and leading international AI diplomacy and security. The 28-page document identifies over 90 federal policy actions across these three areas. During an interview with CNBC, Greg Barbaccia, U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer, called the plan a 'whole of government strategy.' It emphasizes removing regulatory barriers, expanding domestic chip manufacturing, and enabling large-scale adoption of AI across government and industry. Key policies in the plan include expedited and modernized permitting for data centers and semiconductor fabs, along with national initiatives to expand the skilled workforce, particularly electricians and HVAC technicians, to meet rising infrastructure demands. The plan also emphasizes exporting American AI leadership through full-stack partnerships with allied nations, combining chips, software, models and standards. It directs the Commerce and State Departments to coordinate with industry to deliver secure AI packages abroad. The plan outlines an ambitious international strategy to shape global AI norms and secure supply chains. It calls for engaging with like-minded allies while promoting interoperability and adoption of U.S.-led AI standards. To safeguard national interests, the plan includes policies to restrict outbound investment in adversarial nations, defend against intellectual property theft, and ensure AI infrastructure is free from foreign adversary technology, notably from China. This combination of infrastructure buildout and AI diplomacy aims to position the U.S. as a leader not only through innovation, but through standard setting, global commerce and adoption and diffusion of American technology. The plan calls for updates to federal procurement rules to ensure that frontier models used by the government are free from top-down ideological bias and aligned with principles of free expression. It offers no details on how this will be implemented. The document does not define how objectivity will be measured, which agencies will oversee compliance, or what enforcement mechanisms will apply, leaving execution to future regulatory or agency-specific action. A central pillar of the action plan is a sweeping deregulatory agenda aimed at removing federal and state barriers to AI innovation. The plan directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to launch a public Request for Information to identify federal rules that hinder AI adoption. Simultaneously, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), under Executive Order 14192 'Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,' is tasked with working across all federal agencies to identify, revise or repeal regulations and guidance that unnecessarily constrain AI development or deployment. The plan also calls for integrating deregulatory criteria into funding decisions. Agencies are instructed to assess a state's AI regulatory climate and potentially limit discretionary funding to states with regimes that may impair program effectiveness. This can be seen as a direct reaction to the failed attempt at a moratorium for state-level AI legislation. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is directed to examine whether state AI laws interfere with its federal mandates, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is instructed to review prior investigations and consent decrees to ensure they do not impose undue burdens on AI innovation. While framed as a strategy to streamline innovation, the plan's approach draws scrutiny about the politicization of regulatory agencies. The recommendation to use agencies like the FCC and FTC to roll back enforcement or pressure states on funding decisions has raised concerns among critics about potential federal overreach. However, aligning agency policy with national economic goals is both lawful and can be characterized as necessary to maintain U.S. competitiveness in a fast-moving global race. Importantly, the plan frames AI as both an economic and national security imperative. Frontier models must reflect American values and free speech, and infrastructure must be free of foreign adversary technology. The approach is explicitly deregulatory and pro-industry, with global ambitions. The action plan's release marks a major milestone in the administration's strategy to align public and private efforts around a unified AI agenda—and signals that Congress will now face pressure to translate these principles into national legislation. What This Means For The Future Of AI The plan marks a significant moment in U.S. tech policy. The document outlines a clear national direction that embraces acceleration, private-sector leadership, and deregulation as drivers of AI growth. It offers a coherent industrial policy that links AI development to economic competitiveness, infrastructure expansion, and national security. It will shape federal priorities, influence international AI diplomacy, and accelerate domestic capacity building in the months ahead. Yet the plan's deregulatory stance also reveals its limits. It largely disregards the concerns raised by civil society during the public consultation process, which emphasized transparency, accountability, and protections against disinformation, bias and surveillance. Instead, the plan places regulatory rollback and centralized control of agency behavior at the core of its strategy, raising questions about whether innovation is being pursued at the expense of democratic safeguards. The real test now shifts to Congress. With no comprehensive federal law in place, lawmakers will face growing pressure to translate this accelerationist vision into legislation that balances innovation with oversight, fosters growth without fragmentation, and builds public trust in the transformative technologies reshaping American life. Whether Congress can keep pace with this vision remains to be seen.
Washington Post
19 hours ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Live updates: White House to brief reporters as uproar over Epstein files upends Washington
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has scheduled a news briefing Wednesday amid the continued controversy over the Trump administration's decision not to release files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The House is expected to adjourn Wednesday, a day earlier than expected, for its five-week recess after Republicans irate over the administration's decision blocked most legislation from reaching the chamber floor for a vote this week. President Donald Trump, who has sought to change the subject, plans Wednesday to deliver a speech on artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the U.S. tech sector. Silicon Valley's risky bet on President Donald Trump is starting to pay dividends. The White House on Wednesday plans to reveal how it will position the United States to lead a global race to develop artificial intelligence and unveil three executive orders intended to boost the American tech sector, according to two people familiar with the rollout who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public. Former president Barack Obama's office issued a rare admonishment Tuesday of the Trump administration's claims that Obama administration officials planned a 'treasonous conspiracy' aimed at the current commander in chief, calling the allegations 'a weak attempt at distraction.' President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has clinched a trade deal with Japan, reducing the tariffs he had planned to impose on goods from a major trading partner as his deadline for negotiations nears. Trump posted on his Truth Social social media site Tuesday evening that he would impose a 15 percent duty on Japanese imports, down from the 25 percent he threatened earlier this month. Federal judges in New Jersey declined Tuesday to appoint Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. attorney in the state, to continue serving in that role, delivering a resounding rebuke to one of his administration's most polarizing Justice Department appointees and teeing up a showdown over who would lead the office. A panel of the state's U.S. district court judges made the announcement in a brief order that did not offer any explanation for its decision.
