As Goes AI, So Goes the Nation
The artificial intelligence (AI) of a country, including its capabilities, growth, and the culture surrounding it, is a powerful indicator of a nation’s global standing. The technology is interwoven into all industries, from medicine to education and defense, and is a major economic driver with billions of dollars pouring into the global AI marketplace. Despite this, many are eager to regulate AI, understanding it as a new, mysterious threat instead of a technology that is improving rapidly and is deeply promising. The White House stance on AI has taken a 180 degree turn over the last year, from regulation to embrace. The newly released AI Action Plan is a celebration of innovation and a rejection of the previous fear-based preemptive regulatory approach.
The plan is a long anticipated response to the Trump administration’s repeal of the Biden-era Executive Order on AI. The Action Plan is organized into three pillars: innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security. This structure is appropriate to the nature of a nearly ubiquitous technology—it does not exist in a vacuum but rather is a product of both the labs in which it is designed and the regulatory environment and market which it enters.
On innovation, the plan captures the imperative for competition and emboldens innovators to create excellence and refine the American AI repertoire. The plan rightly acknowledges that cutting away at red tape will not be enough; adoption should be actively encouraged. “A coordinated Federal effort would be beneficial in establishing a dynamic, ‘try-first’ culture for AI across American industry.” The “try-first” culture will encourage dynamism through regulatory sandboxes—spaces for innovators to test new technologies for which appropriate regulations don’t exist, under close supervision and then eventually leading to new appropriate guardrails if needed—and instill confidence through an emphasis on education across sectors. At a tech-industry event following the release of the plan, President Trump explained the philosophy behind the deregulatory approach, “America must once again be a country where innovators are rewarded with a green light, not strangled by red tape.”
Because AI does not emerge ex nihilo, and because the physical infrastructure of AI has great potential for American manufacturing and jobs, the plan elaborates on how to localize AI production while strengthening the economies of communities that house it. By galvanizing American energy infrastructure and shoring up the grid, the United States can support the state-of-the-art data centers so many vital industries rely upon while adding a layer to our national security and defense. The infrastructure pillar of the AI Action Plan should be particularly noteworthy to Louisiana, an energy producing state with abundant natural resources and the capacity to host data centers along with the jobs they bring.
Finally, the plan zooms out to address the international implications of AI. While America leads the world in AI development and quality, there are certainly other players on the field. The “AI Race” is a viciously competitive one, and China continues to invest heavily in surpassing the United States. The Action Plan’s approach to reinforcing American leadership is multipronged: seeking alignment with allies; exporting excellent American technology to set the standard; honing in on threats to national security and malfeasance by Chinese actors; and supporting trade that empowers the American AI industry. The third pillar underscores the competition of the global marketplace and builds upon the momentum of the previous pillars to “drive adoption of American AI systems, computing hardware, and standards throughout the world.”
While the AI Action Plan does include some compliance measures focused on which technology the United States government chooses to incorporate into its practice, overall the plan is a triumphant vindication of “permissionless innovation.” A flourishing AI ecosystem holds benefits for everyone because it translates to economic growth, medical breakthroughs, increased accessibility to education and other resources, and enhanced national security. The plan puts the nation on a positive trajectory because it leaves the future of AI in the hands of the people, not the bureaucracy.
Links to Learn More
Trump AI Action Plan Charts Pro-Innovation Path Forward to Beat China – R Street Institute
