- Allies of President Trump are reportedly drafting plans for an executive order on AI.
- According to The Washington Post, the order could lead to a “Manhattan Project” of AI military technology.
- An agency will be set up to study AI models and protect them from foreign powers, the report said.
Allies of President Donald Trump are thought to be developing a “Manhattan Project” to develop AI military technology and overhaul regulations put in place by President Joe Biden.
According to the Washington Post, several people close to the former president are drafting an executive order on AI to advance U.S. interests in the technology.
This would also include establishing an industry-led institute to study AI models and protect them from foreign powers, according to the report.
The Washington Post noted that the framework also includes a section on “Putting America First on AI,” which is consistent with a 2016 pledge by the Trump administration to “strengthen U.S. leadership” in the field.
Larry Kudlow, a former chief economic adviser to President Trump and now president of the America First Institute, is believed to be involved in the plan.
Such a plan, if implemented, would likely benefit the former president's tech donors, including Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk endorsed Trump in July. Following the assassination attempt on the former president, Donating $45 million to new super PAC The group, called America PAC, is garnering support from others in Silicon Valley.
Republicans have previously promised to repeal President Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence.
The order requires big tech companies to communicate the risks of their AI models to the federal government and also includes programs to limit the government's use of AI systems in high-risk situations and to research potentially harmful AI medical practices.
“We will repeal Joe Biden's dangerous executive orders that stifle AI innovation and impose a radical left ideology on the development of this technology,” the Republican platform states. “Instead, Republicans will support AI development that is rooted in free speech and human flourishing.”
Hilton Beckham, a spokesperson for the America First Institute, said in a statement to The Washington Post that the document does not represent the institute's “official position” and should not be interpreted as expressing the views of the Republican Party.
The Trump Administration established the American AI Initiative in 2019 through Executive Order 13859, with the goal of “developing and implementing a plan of action to protect U.S. advantages in AI and technologies critical to the economic and national security interests of the United States from strategic competitors and foreign adversaries.”
The order also instructed officials, including the Secretary of Defense, to “prioritize the allocation of high-performance computing resources to AI-related applications.”
Representatives for Larry Kudlow and Donald Trump did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
