White House launches efforts to accelerate artificial intelligence innovation, strengthen infrastructure, and lead international efforts

Chapter 1 AI Action Plan principles

Key principles cited in the AI Action Plan include:

• Increased Support and Opportunities for American Workers: The Plan highlights opportunities for AI to create high-paying jobs for American workers in the infrastructure build-out needed to support this technological revolution as well as the advances in healthcare, manufacturing, and other fields that AI will enable.
• Freedom from Ideological Bias in AI Designs: The Plan recognizes that AI systems are becoming essential tools that shape how Americans consume information. The Plan seeks to eliminate ideological biases, help free speech flourish, and support objective truth rather than social engineering agendas.
• Protection from Malicious Actors and Other Risks: The Plan warns against threats of misuse or technologies being stolen by malicious actors as well as other emerging or unforeseen risks from AI. Given these risks, the Plan emphasizes the need for secure-by-design technologies, advanced cybersecurity policies, strengthening export controls to prevent foreign adversaries from obtaining AI computing capabilities or semiconductor manufacturing capacity, imposing new restrictions on data centers, increasing export control enforcement, and collaboration across the public and private sectors.

Chapter 2 Policy proposals under the AI Action Plan

The Plan highlights numerous priorities and recommends specific policy actions by agencies across the federal government, including issuing requests for input; reviewing, revising, and potentially eliminating burdensome regulations; aligning federal funding with policy objectives; and supporting the development of key AI initiatives to support the three pillars. A few of the notable policy objectives include efforts to:

• Remove Red Tape and Onerous Regulations:
  • The Plan directs the OSTP to issue a Request for Information from businesses and the public on federal regulations that hinder AI innovation and adoption, and to mobilize agencies to take appropriate action.
  • The Plan states that the federal government should block AI-related federal funding to states with burdensome AI regulations that could “waste the[] funds.” This action is notable as the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) on funding proposed, but ultimately did not include, a moratorium on states enforcing their own AI regulations. The Plan's push against burdensome state AI regulations could serve as a partial alternative to the OBBA's originally proposed moratorium.
  • The Plan directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to evaluate whether state AI regulations interfere with the agency's ability to carry out its obligations and authorities under the Communications Act.
  • The Plan calls for a review of all Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigations, final orders, consent decrees, and injunctions from previous administrations to ensure they do not unduly burden AI innovation, and potentially modifying or setting aside any that do.
• Support Wider Uses of AI and Publication of AI Models: From encouraging open-source and open-weight AI models to be made freely available to prioritizing AI-related training and skill development programs, the Administration aims to establish a “try-first” culture for AI across American industries. The Plan calls out critical sectors like healthcare, energy, agriculture, and defense, as well as the federal government, as areas where AI use should be fostered.
• Utilize High-Quality Data: Recognizing that high-quality data has become national strategic assets, the Administration is supporting creation of the world's largest and highest quality AI-ready scientific datasets. The Plan includes support for making federal data more accessible and developing minimum data quality standards for certain key categories of data that may be used in AI model training.
• Facilitate Exports to U.S. Allies and Partners: The Plan emphasizes the need to establish America's “full AI technology stack,” including advanced semiconductors, AI models and software applications, as the gold standard for AI worldwide to ensure our allies are building on American technology.
• Protect AI Innovations and American Security: The Plan recognizes that AI can potentially give rise to threats such as those posed by malicious actors, misuses of the technologies, deepfakes, and cybersecurity threats. To counter this, the Administration emphasizes that government and industry must work together to appropriately balance the dissemination of cutting-edge AI technologies with national security controls, including addressing security risks to American AI companies, talent, intellectual property, and systems. The Plan encourages America to leverage AI governance bodies and standards to counter influence of adversaries. The Plan calls for imposing further trade and export control regulations related to data centers and semiconductor manufacturing. For example, the Plan wants to ensure that the “AI computing stack is built on American products and that the infrastructure that supports AI development such as energy and telecommunications are free from foreign adversary information and communications technology and services (ICTS)—including software and relevant hardware.”
• Promote American Values: The Administration calls for America to work with like-minded nations to encourage development of AI in line with their shared values to prompt innovation and counter authoritarian influence. Under the Plan, America would encourage allies to adopt U.S. export controls and use trade tools such as the foreign direct product rule restrictions and secondary tariffs to achieve greater international alignment.
• Bolstering U.S. Manufacturing and Infrastructure: The Plan seeks to revitalize U.S. semiconductor manufacturing by updating grant and research programs and streamlining CHIPS-funded manufacturing projects. The Plan also recommends policy actions to streamline permitting and other regulations that support building AI-related infrastructure such as data centers and energy infrastructure in the U.S.

Chapter 3 Executive Orders

To further the goals of AI Action Plan, President Trump also signed three EOs on AI:

• Executive Order on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure: The Administration states it is a priority to facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout of AI infrastructure by easing federal regulatory burdens. The EO includes launching a program to provide financial support for qualifying data center projects, fast-track permitting, and efficient environmental reviews.
• Executive Order on Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack: The EO establishes a coordinated national effort to support the domestic AI industry by promoting the export of full-stack American AI technology packages. The Department of Commerce is directed to establish an American AI Exports Program and the government is to coordinate mobilization of financing tools to support AI export packages.
• Executive Order on Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government: The EO directs agency heads to procure only large language models (LLMs) that adhere to “Unbiased AI Principles” defined in the Order, being “truth-seeking” and “ideological neutrality.” The government will issue guidance to agencies to implement these principles in AI procurement, and contractors will need to commit to terms ensuring compliance with the principles.

Chapter 4 Next steps

Now that this Plan has been announced, it will be important for companies to:

• Continue monitoring for new developments and agencies’ actions implementing the recommendations and priorities outlined in the Plan.
• Participate in federal requests for input, such as by commenting on OSTP’s Request for Information on barriers to AI innovation, the FCC’s review of conflicting state AI laws, and prior FTC decisions that may unduly restrict AI development; participating in Department of Commerce fora to address supply chain challenges impacting semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. and next-generation American AI innovation; participating in the efforts to update and develop new standards for AI systems; and engaging with relevant intelligence agencies to provide industry perspective on protecting AI innovations from security risks.
• Consider participating in the Plan’s research and testing initiatives.
• Confirm AI technologies and their deployment align with the priorities and concerns highlighted by the EOs, particularly for companies providing services to, or seeking funding from, to the federal government.
• Identify opportunities where private-sector-led innovation could contribute to AI adoption by the federal government.
• Assess supply chain for U.S.-based AI computing (hardware, models, software, applications) for exposure to entities owned, by controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction of adversarial nations (e.g., China and Russa).
• Consider potential impact of proposed location verification features on advanced AI chips and computing power restrictions, as well as expanded controls on semiconductor manufacturing subsystems, and opportunities for policy outreach to agencies regarding feasibility and practical implementation.
• Review and modify trade compliance program related to new export control regulations that may be issued by the Trump Administration in the future, assess opportunities with allies that implement actions similar to U.S. export controls, and devote resources to monitor export compliance risks given increased enforcement policy announced in the Plan.