White House unveils sweeping plan to “win” global AI race through deregulation

On Wednesday, the White House released "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan," a 25-page document that outlines the Trump administration's strategy to "maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance" in AI through deregulation, infrastructure investment, and international partnerships. But critics are already taking aim at the plan, saying it's doing Big Tech a big favor.

Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Michael Kratsios and Special Advisor for AI and Crypto David Sacks crafted the plan, which frames AI development as a race the US must win against global competitors, particularly China.

The document describes AI as the catalyst for "an industrial revolution, an information revolution, and a renaissance—all at once." It calls for removing regulatory barriers that the administration says hamper private sector innovation. The plan explicitly reverses several Biden-era policies, including Executive Order 14110 on AI model safety measures, which President Trump rescinded on his first day in office during his second term.

"Whoever has the largest AI ecosystem will set global AI standards and reap broad economic and military benefits," the document states, comparing the current competition to the space race of the 1960s. The plan's three pillars—innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy—each include policy recommendations for accelerating AI adoption while preventing countries the Trump administration perceives as adversaries from accessing American technology.

The plan calls for significant changes to how the federal government approaches AI regulation. It directs the Office of Management and Budget to work with federal agencies to identify and revise regulations that "unnecessarily hinder AI development or deployment." The document also instructs the Federal Trade Commission to review all investigations started under the previous administration to ensure they don't "advance theories of liability that unduly burden AI innovation."