Trump Will Champion AI as Top Economic Priority
By Rebecca Grant: President-elect Donald J. Trump is treating AI first and foremost as a top economic priority. Trump’s official Republican Party Platform placed the AI plank in Chapter Three, “Build the Greatest Economy in History,” subsection five, titled Champion Innovation. The AI plank stated: “We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.” Read more about contrasts between the Trump and Biden-Harris policies here.
Trump’s first Administration made big strides in AI. His Executive Order 13859 launched the American AI Initiative on February 11, 2019 (and he got criticized for it.) Artificial Intelligence featured on the October 2020 White House Critical and Emerging Technologies list.
Five years is an eon in AI, and since Trump was last in office, AI has surged into the public policy debate, fueled by the late 2022 release of ChatGPT, and subsequent breakthroughs in generative AI. Natural language processing research papers grew 104% between 2017 and 2022, according to a Georgetown University study. AI can now “unlock trillions of dollars in value across sectors from banking to life sciences,” projected a McKinsey report.
A consensus is growing that economic prosperity and national security require the US, not China, to lead in AI. Remember Trump’s 2017 national security strategy prioritized US economic strength.
To keep American AI in the lead, Trump 47 may opt for a light touch on regulation, with narrow laws to address sector-specific concerns. “For example, AI-powered medical diagnostics, which carry higher risks to human health and safety, should undergo more stringent testing and evaluation by the FDA compared to lower-risk AI applications like a movie recommendation algorithm,” former Trump AI Czar Michael Kratsios explained to a House committee last year.
In the Senate, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will likely become Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and may also favor narrow legislation for AI focused on specific issues. Cruz outlined his views on AI for the Wall Street Journal in March 2024.