The new AI executive order signals a departure from Biden’s regulatory framework, prioritising innovation and national competitiveness over responsible AI principles. While it removes barriers for private sector growth, concerns remain about reduced oversight on bias, misinformation, and civil rights protections.

Within days after revoking the Biden administration’s October 2023 Executive Order (EO) on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), President Donald Trump released a new EO titled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The EO is the first among several steps aiming to revise the AI policy adopted by the previous administration. The Fact Sheet released by the White House reasoned that Biden’s EO hindered AI innovation and imposed onerous government control that would stifle private sector innovation and threaten American technological leadership. This radical shift in the US AI policy reflects a broader trend in reducing government oversight over AI development, which can have long-term ramifications for civil rights protection and AI governance.

Trump’s EO aims to remove certain AI policies that hinder American AI innovation and bolster its global dominance to “promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” To achieve the same, an action plan will be prepared within 180 days by White House tech and science officials, which also includes a new special advisor for AI and Crypto. It further mandates the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs to review and revoke all policies, orders, and regulations that are not in accordance with the objectives of Trump’s EO. In addition, the new EO also directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise the OMB Memoranda M-24-10 and M-24-18 within 60 days. Both these memoranda elaborate on how government agencies should use and responsibly acquire AI systems.

The EO takes a different approach not only from Biden but also from Trump’s first administration. In 2019, Trump signed an EO on “Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” laying a detailed roadmap for AI development, which explicitly included the protection of civil liberties and privacy. While both EOs focus on maintaining American leadership in AI, the latest takes a leap in that it does not explicitly mention the need for protection of civil rights.

While some experts showed their dismay over the sweeping revocation of well-established AI policies and protections against harmful effects, many are not surprised. In his election campaigns, and the 2024 Republican Party Platform, Trump criticized President Joe Biden’s AI agenda and vowed to revoke his EO. Interestingly, the language of the Platform and Trump’s AI order are remarkably similar, both focusing on “free speech and human flourishing” and removing radical left-wing ideas. However, it should also be noted that Trump’s recent EO is only a blueprint for future action and does not suggest a radical shift (as we might have expected) from the core pillars of the previous administration. This can be deduced from the fact that Trump did not revoke the Department of Commerce’s Framework for AI Diffusion or the EO on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure passed by the Biden administration in his last week of office. Both these documents focus on imposing tighter export controls on high-end American technology and hardware to its adversaries, including China and Russia, and building AI infrastructure domestically. It is also worth noting that the revocation of Biden’s EO would not have had any practical effect as the time-bound tasks identified were already fulfilled before the end of his tenure.

Still, the broad wording of Trump’s latest EO do signal a more flexible approach to AI infrastructure and innovation. This comes amid the Trump administration’s launch of the ambitious US$500 billion Stargate Project, involving investments by the private sector to develop AI infrastructure in the country. The flexibility will give more headroom for US companies to train and build AI models with less regulatory bottlenecks and mandatory obligations to implement responsible AI principles. This is evident from the call to “develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.” The seemingly innocuous terminology simply means the dilution of anti-bias, privacy, consumer protection, civil rights, and safety provisions, which were vital elements of Biden’s policy towards AI. Both Trump and Elon Musk have previously questioned the liberal bias embedded in AI systems through these anti-bias provisions.

This new flexibility will give AI companies room to innovate without burdensome regulatory hindrances. Of course, the obvious challenge will be whether the principles of responsible AI can be maintained through such flexibility without intensifying concerns about discrimination, misinformation, and hate speech. Overall, it is a part of the general trend where big tech companies like Meta are repositioning themselves by opting out of third-party fact-checking units to promote free speech and expression. Moreover, as the US leads the world in AI innovation, the upcoming policies (including the Stargate project) will have a spillover effect on other nations, including India. It will put the inclusion of responsible AI principles in foundational and application models on the back foot and increase the costs and responsibility for companies applying those AI models to tackle bias and similar elements from their internal processes. Additionally, the lack of regulatory oversight for big AI companies will impact the rule of law and might lead to an increase in the regulatory burden and costs for governments in the long run.

Trump’s AI EO sets the wheels in motion for a larger reform in the core AI policy of the US, adopting a path of deregulation and nationalism in advanced technology development. Whether this renewed approach will incorporate responsible AI principles or create new governance challenges is yet to be seen, but its impact will undoubtedly shape the future of AI policy both in the US and globally.

Nayan Chandra Mishra is a Research Assistant to Dr. C Raja Mohan. His research interests lie in the intersection of law, technology, and geopolitics. He is also reading law from Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow. Nayan’s work has been published in leading publications such as The Hindu, Stimson Center, LiveMint, Tech Policy Press, The Indian Express, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, The Scroll, and Livelaw. Prominent think tanks including Carnegie India and the RAND Corporation have also cited his research. Nayan can be contacted at punanayan@gmail.com

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