On January 23rd, the President issued an Executive Order (EO) titled Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. The stated purpose of the EO is to “develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.”
The EO broadly directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology along with other senior White House officials and relevant agency heads to:
1) Develop a plan within 180 days to achieve the newly stated policy of the US on AI, as set forth in the EO: “enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security”
2) Review all actions taken by agencies under President Biden’s AI EO issued in 2023, and rescind any of these actions that are inconsistent with President Trump’s EO.
3) Revise two OMB Memoranda to agency heads (M-24-10 and M-24-18) which addressed government acquisition and use of AI technologies.
In 2023, President Biden issued an EO on AI, creating a whole of government approach to the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI. This included prioritizing workers, stating that “all workers need a seat at the table, including through collective bargaining, to ensure that they benefit” from AI technologies. The EO went on to state that “AI should not be deployed in ways that undermine [workers’] rights, worsen job quality, encourage undue worker surveillance, lessen market competition, introduce new health and safety risks, or cause harmful labor-force disruptions.” President Trump revoked this Executive Order and in the EO discussed here has directed agencies to review and then revise or rescind any actions taken under President Biden’s AI EO that are inconsistent with his Administration’s policies on AI. The EO also directs agencies to provide all available exemptions if rescission of actions are not able to be made immediately.
In 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued two memorandums (M-24-10 and M-24-18) to all agencies regarding the acquisition and use of AI technologies. Specifically, M-24-10 established new agency requirements regarding AI governance structures and minimum practices when using AI technologies that impact the safety and rights of the public and federal employees. Such practices included “identify[ing] and assess[ing] AI’s impact on equity and fairness, and mitigat[ing] algorithmic discrimination” among many other requirements. The Memorandum also encouraged agencies to adopt the Department of Labor principles and best practices relating to the use of AI.