US President Donald Trump quickly axed a raft of former President Joe Biden’s executive orders on his first day back in the White House — including a sweeping artificial intelligence executive order.
In a Jan. 20 list of presidential actions, Trump revoked Biden’s 2023 executive order that created standards for AI safety and security, including requiring AI makers to share safety test information with the government.
Trump had criticized Biden’s AI regulations as heavy-handed and hindering tech innovation, arguing that overregulation stifles creativity and economic growth.
US President Donald Trump has taken an axe to a raft of former President Joe Biden’s executive orders. Source: The White House
The Republican Party’s 2024 platform described Biden’s order as a hindrance to AI innovation, saying, “In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.”
Top executives from the country’s leading tech companies who have embraced AI — such as Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai — stood alongside Trump at his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Other US firms have begun ramping up AI expansion, with Microsoft’s announcement in September that it was establishing two AI centers in Abu Dhabi being among the significant AI investments throughout 2024.
Biden’s executive order, signed in October 2023, established a framework for AI that included six primary points, along with plans for the ethical use of AI in the government, privacy practices for citizens and steps for protecting consumer privacy.
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As part of the order, there were reporting mechanisms for companies, and guidance was utilized from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to help companies identify flaws in language models, including biases.
Alondra Nelson, a senior fellow from the public policy advocacy group the Center for American Progress, said on Jan. 20 that without a “thoughtful replacement,” Trump’s repeal of the order was “self-defeating for our country.”
“This will leave the American public unprotected from the risks and harms of AI and, therefore, unable to take up the benefits it might bring,” she added.
Alexander Nowrasteh, an analyst at the Cato Institute — a libertarian US think tank — said in a Jan. 20 X post that it would have been better if some sections of the order were “kept because it eased AI worker immigration. Conservative proponents of skilled immigration have lost.”
Source: Alexander Nowrasteh
During the last days of the Biden administration, it proposed a framework that would apply cap and licensing restrictions for AI semiconductor sales to all but 18 US allies and partners.
The decision sparked a backlash from the tech industry over concerns that it would stifle innovation and undermine America’s leadership in the sector.
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