While AI regulations, unlike social and economic issues, were not at the forefront of the 2024 presidential race, it is worthwhile to look into the crystal ball to see how a second Trump presidency will impact them.

While AI was not on Trump’s radar during his first administration, in February of 2019 Trump signed the country’s first AI executive order jumpstarting the American AI Initiative. Trump’s executive order (EO 13859) attempted to streamline focus on how to remove obstacles that would hinder AI development and open routes for different federal agencies’ investments in AI.[1] In addition to encouraging federal agencies to invest in the research and development of AI, the executive order directed agencies to make federal data, models, and computing resources more available to AI R&D experts while beginning to outline AI governance standards. While it is commendable that Trump’s administration released the nation’s first AI initiative, there are significant concerns about how his second administration will shape AI regulation, development, and technological growth.

In recent months on the campaign trail, Trump has alluded to removing policies that President Biden had put in place and shifting towards a laissez-faire approach to regulating AI. This is unsurprising given that in November of 2020, the Office of Management and Budget released a guidance document that clearly stated that “[f]ederal agencies must avoid regulatory or non-regulatory actions that needlessly hamper AI innovation and growth.” [2]The guidance document further went on to state that federal agencies must first assess how potential regulation would affect AI innovation and growth. This guidance document is clear evidence of the new administration’s goals regarding AI: growth is number one, and regulation is a secondary thought.

So, what does this mean for technology companies developing new AI technology or any company involved in the market map for AI? At first glance, this might look good to them. There will be freedom to develop new technologies at a rapid pace. There will be unlimited possibilities for profits and expansion into the unknown. However, with immense freedom comes monumental responsibility. It must be someone’s responsibility to check the rapid expansion of AI technology into citizens’ everyday lives, and this responsibility will fall on the shoulders of one of two entities: the government or private companies themselves. Allowing companies to individually have the majority of the responsibility to keep themselves in check is a dangerous game. There is no reason to believe that companies will be able to self-govern technology development with ethics or anything else in mind when faced with the enormous potential for profit. It does not take a savant to recognize that this will end poorly. Government oversight is essential to curb unchecked growth and practices when employing and developing AI technology to prevent future infringements on citizen’s privacy rights.

However, the success of whether AI regulations will be implemented is now dependent on which party will rule Congress. Given that Republicans control the Senate, but the House of Representatives is up for grabs, there are two possibilities for the future of AI regulation: suffer endless deadlocks or unchecked growth given that the party that could rule Congress would be full of members who have historically lacked the ability to comprehend technology in general. Regardless, the future of the United States holding a title for stewardess of AI development and ethical regulation, along with its impact on the American people and the rest of the world, looks grim…at best.

[1] Exec. Order No. 13,859 of Feb. 11, 2019, Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, 84 Fed. Reg. 3967 (Feb. 14, 2019), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-maintaining-american-leadership-artificial-intelligence/.

[2] U.S. Office of Management and Budget, M-21-06, Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies: Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications, Nov. 17, 2020.