The White House late Thursday issued an executive order from President Donald Trump that aims for his administration to develop a Federal government “action plan” on artificial intelligence technologies within the next six months.
That plan, the White House said, will be developed by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the White House’s special advisor for AI and crypto, along with the assistants to the president for national security affairs (APNSA), economic policy, and domestic policy.
The order released on Thursday holds scant details of what the AI action plan eventually might hold.
However, it does state that the goal of the effort will reflect “the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.”
“The United States has long been at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, driven by the strength of our free markets, world-class research institutions, and entrepreneurial spirit,” the order states.
“To maintain this leadership, we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas,” the order says. “With the right Government policies, we can solidify our position as the global leader in AI and secure a brighter future for all Americans.”
In addition to setting expectations for what the AI action plan will say, the executive order also states that it “revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation, clearing a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence.”
The new order sets up a mechanism to purge from Federal agencies any actions they may have already taken in response to the Biden administration’s 2023 AI executive order.
Earlier this week, President Trump officially revoked the Biden AI order, fulfilling a Republican Party campaign pledge that judged the order stifled AI innovation.
The 2023 Biden AI executive order set standards for AI in eight categories including: safety and security; privacy; equity and civil rights; supporting consumers and workers; innovation and competition; American leadership; and government use of AI. The order also directed Congress to approve legislation on data privacy and other AI-related topics and issued policy marching orders to several Federal agencies for specific follow-up work.
A key focus of the Biden executive order required agencies to set standards for AI testing and address related risks such as cybersecurity.
Despite this week’s revocation of the Biden AI order, the language of the new White House order directs OTSP, OMB, and advisors working on the AI action plan to review with Federal agency heads “all policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions” already taken to fulfill the Biden AI order.
Those parties will then identify any actions already taken “that are or may be inconsistent with, or present obstacles to, the policy set forth” to the goals of the Trump executive order that will lead to the new AI action plan.
“For any such agency actions identified, the heads of agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, suspend, revise, or rescind such actions, or propose suspending, revising, or rescinding such actions,” the new order says.
“If in any case such suspension, revision, or rescission cannot be finalized immediately,” the OSTP director and the heads of agencies “shall promptly take steps to provide all available exemptions authorized by any such orders, rules, regulations, guidelines, or policies, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, until such action can be finalized,” the new order says.
Finally, the new order directs OMB to revise OMB memos M-24-10 and M-24-18 “as necessary to make them consistent” with the new order’s policy directive. M-24-10 and M-24-18 were released by President Biden’s OMB in 2024 as guidance to Federal agencies for the procurement of AI tech.
In a fact sheet accompanying the new order, the White House said its forthcoming AI action plan is aimed at “eliminating harmful Biden Administration AI policies and enhancing America’s global AI dominance.”
“The Biden AI Executive Order established unnecessarily burdensome requirements for companies developing and deploying AI that would stifle private sector innovation and threaten American technological leadership,” the White House said.
