President Donald Trump has announced a broad plan to secure America’s “global dominance” in artificial intelligence, aiming to preserve the country’s edge over China in this fast-developing sector.
The proposal includes loosening environmental rules to accelerate AI supercomputer projects and boost sales of US-made technology both domestically and overseas.
The 28-page policy framework titled “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” outlines more than 90 policy actions for the fast-developing technology that administration officials say can be implemented over the next year.
"We believe we're in an AI race, and we want the United States to win that race," said David Sacks, the White House AI and crypto czar, during a press briefing.
The government pledges to boost US innovation while stripping away what it calls "bureaucratic red tape" and "ideological bias".
“America must once again be a country where innovators are rewarded with a green light, not strangled with red tape,” Trump said at an unveiling event that was co-hosted by the bipartisan Hill and Valley Forum and the ‘All-In’ podcast, a business and technology show hosted by four tech investors and David Sacks.
Cutting regulations
The new blueprint calls for the export of US AI software and hardware abroad as well as a crackdown on state laws deemed too restrictive to let it flourish, a marked departure from predecessor Joe Biden's "high fence" approach that limited global access to coveted AI chips.
"We also have to have a single federal standard, not 50 different states regulating this industry in the future," Trump said.
To push the agenda forward, the plan instructs the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to gather input on federal rules seen as obstacles to AI innovation and uptake.
It also tasks the Office of Management and Budget with identifying and repealing regulations that are said to delay AI development or rollout. Under the new policy, federal agencies will withhold AI-related discretionary funding from states that enforce "burdensome AI regulations."
The Federal Communication Commission is told to examine which state-level AI rules may interfere with its authority, while the Federal Trade Commission is ordered to reassess Biden-era investigations to ensure they do not rely on legal interpretations that place unnecessary restrictions on AI innovation.
The document further states that federal contracts will be awarded only to developers of large language models that are “objective and free from top-down ideological bias.”
Senior White House officials confirmed that the General Services Administration will revise contracting language to reflect this standard, prioritising AI systems focused on “truth seeking” over those regarded as socially programmed.
“We're updating federal procurement guidelines allowing the government to only contract with LLM developers who ensure that their systems allow free speech and expression to flourish,” said Michael Kratsios, OSTP director, during a press briefing, highlighting diversity, equity and inclusion mandates in large language models as a primary concern.
Competition with China
President Donald Trump marked the plan's release with a speech where he laid out the stakes of the technological arms race with China, calling it a fight that will define the 21st century.
"America is the country that started the AI race. And as President of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it," he said.
In April, Trump blocked the export of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China but allowed the company to resume sales earlier this month, sparking rare public criticism from fellow Republicans.
"If we're regulating ourselves to death and allowing the Chinese to catch up to us, that's not something ... we should blame the Chinese for..., that is something we should blame our own leaders for, for having stupid policies that allow other countries to catch up with America," Vice President JD Vance said.
The plan also reflects concerns about America’s outdated energy infrastructure in the face of rising AI demands.
"AI is the first digital service in modern life that challenges America to build vastly greater energy generation than we have today. American energy capacity has stagnated since the 1970s while China has rapidly built out their grid,” it states.
Many industry experts involved in the plan have also acknowledged China’s influence and rivalry in AI, while expressing support for the new framework.
“China has had a national plan for global AI leadership since 2017, and is executing it relentlessly with talent, infrastructure, state-backed investment, and international influence,” said American Edge Project CEO Doug Kelly.
Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan also stated that the Silicon Valley-based company is proud to be investing hundreds of billions of dollars in job-creating infrastructure across the US.
“We’re in the middle of a fierce competition with China for AI leadership. The White House’s AI Action Plan is a bold step to create the right regulatory environment for companies like ours to invest in America.”
However, some experts argue that the plan falls short in several key areas.
“The Trump administration has reversed its ban on sales of a sophisticated American chip (Nvidia’s “H20”) to China, which will power China’s models,” says Rush Doshi, Director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations.
He states the plan still does not make clear whether Washington is pursuing a consistent and restrictive export policy or simply responding to commercial pressures as they arise. From Beijing’s perspective, this uncertainty could easily be read as a strategic opening.
And then there’s the question of scale. China’s progress in artificial intelligence does not only come from the result of access to advanced chips. It is also the product of coordinated state-led investment, rapid infrastructure expansion, and a growing international presence.
Jonathan Hillman, a Senior Fellow for Geoeconomics, noted that China’s Digital Silk Road continues to gain ground across emerging markets by offering software and chips that also complete AI systems, including training and financing.
While the Trump plan includes a proposal to promote the export of American AI systems, experts warn that the effort may be undermined by excessive bureaucracy and the absence of a clear geographical strategy.
Another Senior Fellow for International Economics, Sebastian Mallaby, Paul A. pointed out that the plan’s endorsement of open-source models may carry unintended consequences. Although these models broaden access to AI tools, they also raise significant security concerns.
“Bad actors might use these models for bad ends, from the mass production of deep fakes to the building of weapons,” he wrote.