On Wednesday, the Trump administration released its AI Action Plan. An impressive team of technology and AI specialists, many AI policy veterans from top Silicon Valley firms, drafted the blueprint. Aspects of the plan include developing AI infrastructure, expediting regulatory processes for tech firms, and addressing national security fears through increased support for competing with China.
Aligning with the national plan, the new AI Action Plan from Governor Josh Shapiro stresses the creation of data centers to infrastructure the booming industry. This is exactly what Trump’s administration is all about—creating the conditions for innovation. They intend to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and ensure that startups and academic researchers developing non-commercial open AI models are able to access significant computing power. The administration’s initiative calls for action from a number of federal agencies. It requires the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Energy to host hackathons that will uncover security flaws in AI systems.
Infrastructure Development and Regulatory Changes
This new focus on infrastructure is at the heart of the new AI Action Plan. By prioritizing the construction of data centers, the Trump administration seeks to provide the necessary backbone for a robust AI ecosystem. This initiative will go a long way toward stabilizing America’s energy grid. It’s all a piece of the Biden administration’s broader push to incorporate AI into sensitive sectors.
Additionally, the proposal calls for major regulatory reforms to speed up the build-out of infrastructure to make AI work. Undoubtedly, Trump’s administration is pushing for deregulation. The purpose of this action is to expedite the development of data centers, semiconductor fabrication plants and energy generation facilities necessary to support potentially large-scale AI operations. These initiatives are framed as a way of cutting red tape that has long prevented innovation.
The Department of Commerce has been tasked with evaluating Chinese AI models for their alignment with Chinese Communist Party narratives and censorship protocols. As a whole, this move further emphasizes the administration’s commitment to making sure American values are embedded in AI development and deployment.
Emphasis on National Security
National security is still one of the three pillars of the AI Action Plan. The administration’s stated aim is to harness the development of AI technologies to the U.S. defense and intelligence apparatus with maximum effect. We are constructing AI data enclaves dedicated solely to the DoD. This new program is a significant step in the right direction towards harnessing emerging technologies in our nation’s defense.
The plan includes a call to update federal procurement guidelines. It specifies that only the developers of frontier large language models who can maintain the objectivity and lack of ideological bias of their systems will be eligible to receive contracts. Perhaps the biggest question this directive raises is how exactly neutrality will be defined and more importantly how it will be measured in practice.
Eugene Volokh, a first amendment scholar, highlights the legal landmines in enforcing neutrality in AI models. He notes, “An order that says, ‘We will only enter into contracts to buy models that are sufficiently neutral’ would be more constitutionally defensible, though of course implementing it effectively may be very difficult.” He further elaborates on potential approaches: “If the order instructs agencies to select AIs based on a combination of accuracy and neutrality, leaving each agency with some latitude to decide what that means, that might be more viable.”
Balancing Innovation with Ethical Considerations
The AI Action Plan attempts to strike a balance, offering space for innovation and friendly competition. It does, in fact, woefully understate the possible harms of artificial intelligence technologies. Opponents say that it would set back work to create needed guardrails against abuse or unintended consequences of AI use.
Rumman Chowdhury, an advocate for ethical AI practices, tells us that neutrality is hard to attain in any AI engagement. “The only way to be neutral would be literal non-engagement,” she cautions. Now, deregulation and that short term boom have become our rallying cry. This focus could lead to ethical quandaries with long-term ramifications for the American public.
“To secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation,” he stated, emphasizing the urgency of national competitiveness in the face of global challenges.
