On his first day back in the White House, President Donald Trump swiftly revoked several executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden, including Biden’s October 2023 framework for artificial intelligence (AI).
Biden’s AI executive order had established safety and security standards, requiring AI companies to share safety test data with the government and adopt privacy practices for citizens. It also aimed to guide ethical AI use in government and identify biases in language models, utilizing input from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
In a statement on Jan. 20, Trump criticized the regulations as overly restrictive, arguing they stifled creativity and economic growth. The Republican Party’s 2024 platform similarly denounced Biden’s framework, advocating for AI development rooted in “free speech and human flourishing.”
During Trump’s inauguration, top tech executives who champion AI innovation, including Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), and Sundar Pichai (Google), stood by his side. Their presence signaled a strong alignment with Trump’s deregulatory stance on AI.
Meanwhile, US companies have intensified AI investments. Microsoft’s September 2024 announcement to establish two AI centers in Abu Dhabi highlighted the growing expansion of AI initiatives.
Biden’s AI framework had included reporting mechanisms for AI companies and protections against consumer privacy violations. Alondra Nelson, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, expressed concern over the repeal, calling it “self-defeating.”
“This will leave the American public unprotected from the risks and harms of AI, preventing them from reaping its potential benefits,” she said on Jan. 20.
Not everyone agreed with Trump’s sweeping repeal. Alexander Nowrasteh, an analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, noted on X that Biden’s framework had eased restrictions on AI worker immigration, a move some conservatives supported. “It would have been better to retain sections that facilitated skilled immigration,” Nowrasteh said.
Biden’s outgoing administration had also proposed a framework for restricting AI semiconductor sales to non-allied nations, sparking backlash from the tech sector over fears it could stifle innovation and erode America’s competitive edge in AI.
With Biden’s AI framework dismantled, the future of AI regulation in the US remains uncertain, as policymakers and industry leaders navigate the balance between innovation and oversight.