Trump Alters AI Policy With New Executive Order
On the 23rd of January 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Removing Barriers for American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence”. The Executive Order aims to maintain US leadership in AI. The Order “revokes some existing AI policies and Directives that act as obstacles to American AI Innovation” but does not specify which policies and Directives are impacted. It appears that the Assistant to President for Science and Technology will be identifying these policies and directives in conjunction with agency heads. The Order will soon provide details of the new AI action plan. However, it states that AI systems must be developed “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.” Although the details of the new AI action plan are forthcoming, the Order states that the development of AI systems must be “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.”
Earlier in the week, Trump also signed an executive order revoking 78 executive orders signed by President Biden, including Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, issued on October 30, 2023. Biden’s Executive Order aimed to regulate the development and deployment of artificial intelligence in the United States. It also provided insight into the issues that concerned the previous Administration, including AI security, privacy, and discrimination. Here is more information about Biden’s Executive Order. The revocation is largely symbolic for employers and developers of AI-based tools, as it did not impose any requirements on employers. Instead, it directed federal agencies to prepare reports or publish non-binding guidance on topics such as:
“the labor-market effects of AI,”
- “the abilities of agencies to support workers displaced by the adoptions of AI and other technological advancements,” and
- “principles and best practices for employers” to “mitigate AI’s potential harms to employees’ well-being and maximize its potential benefits.”
- Biden’s Executive Order had also directed agencies to provide anti-discrimination guidance to federal benefits programs and federal contractors over their use of AI algorithms and to coordinate on best practices for investigating and enforcing civil rights violations related to AI.
While employers may not experience any immediate effects from the two new Executive Orders this week, taken together, they lend support to predictions that the new Administration would take a more hands-off approach to regulating AI. We will continue to monitor how the AI landscape evolves under this new Administration and report on AI developments affecting employers.
