Trump Seemingly Poised to Relax Regulation of AI

Remember the anecdote about President Biden getting spooked by a blockbuster film’s depiction of artificial intelligence run amok? The story goes that in November 2023, he issued an executive order calling for the federal government to create safeguards for the use of AI after he watched Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt do battle with rogue software in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.”

A little more than a year later, the Department of Homeland Security has responded with recommendations for deploying AI in the United States’ critical infrastructure. Among them, DHS is calling for robust transparency and privacy protections when it comes to the use of AI at companies that own and operate infrastructure, such as airlines. Moreover, the DHS guidance advise that companies providing cloud computing services should monitor and report suspicious activity. Another suggestion: Developers such as OpenAI should implement strict privacy standards and watch for potential biases.

But with a new administration heading to the White House, the federal guidance could be reversed in 2025. According to a piece published by the Brookings Institution that contemplated the future of AI policy, President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will likely relax agency regulation on some pertinent issues. That starts with an expectation that Trump will repeal Biden’s AI executive order and “dismantle” the AI safeguards Biden put in place. Additionally, Trump will likely instruct departments and agencies to “take a more hands-off approach to AI regulation,” the Brookings report said. Brookings also speculated Trump will strengthen AI-related export restrictions and discontinue any engagement between the U.S. and China on managing AI risks.

International peers of the U.S. seem leery of Trump’s AI agenda. Meanwhile, some blue states such as Colorado and New York have worked on their own to address the risks associated with AI. For example, companies in New York that use AI to recruit employees must now hire an independent auditor to review whether the system is bias-free. And the New York Department of Financial Services released guidance this fall to help businesses assess AI-related cybersecurity risks and put controls in place to mitigate those risks. In an industry letter dated October 16, the NYDFS stressed that companies should be aware that they must update risk assessments annually; establish incident response and recovery plans; and ensure that company leaders are involved with cybersecurity and AI-related risk management.

Alarmists probably won’t take much comfort in the idea of leaving states to their own devices to conjure up a hodgepodge of safeguards for AI and its applications. Could billionaire Elon Musk be the answer to their hopes for a moderating influence on the Trump administration’s AI policies? Tesla’s chief executive has expressed his misgivings about AI in the past, and Musk has taken on a prominent advisory role to Trump in gearing up for a second term in the White House.

Musk as a potential savior for big tech skeptics? Sounds like AI could make for some strange bedfellows.