President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to repeal President Joe Biden's executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) when he takes office in January 2025.
Global safety talks are taking place in San Francisco, where United States allies and tech leaders are discussing AI's transformative potential and its growing risks.
Officials from several U.S. allies—including Canada, Kenya, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the 27-nation European Union—are scheduled to meet at the International Network of AI Safety Institutes, an event hosted by the Biden administration.
Trump promised in his presidential campaign platform to "repeal Joe Biden's dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology."
With vocal AI enthusiast and billionaire ally Elon Musk in tow, the incoming president's approach to the industry is not yet clear.
How Trump's Plans Differ From Biden's Approach
Biden's executive order established safety protocols for AI use in government and commerce and created the AI Safety Institute within the Commerce Department.
Trump has criticized the order, signed in October 2023, as a barrier to innovation.
However, Trump and his team have not detailed what parts of the policy they find objectionable or how they would approach AI differently.
While Trump frames Biden's measures as stifling innovation, many industry leaders see them as necessary.
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are among the companies that back Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's efforts to codify the AI Safety Institute's work into law.
U.N. Chief Guterres' Warning on AI Risks
Leaders from ten countries and the European Union convened earlier this year at the AI Seoul Summit, where companies like Meta and OpenAI committed to deactivating systems that pose intolerable risks.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the summit via video link.
"We cannot sleepwalk into a dystopian future where the power of AI is controlled by a few people––or worse, by algorithms beyond human understanding," he said.
The U.S. delegation emphasized its leadership in AI, which Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have championed. Harris, who spearheaded initiatives like the AI Bill of Rights and voluntary safety commitments from major tech firms, has positioned the U.S. as a global leader in balancing innovation with accountability.
Will Anything Actually Change?
Trump rarely addressed artificial intelligence during his first presidency.
However, in the final weeks of his first term, he became the first president to sign an executive order on AI, instructing federal agencies to prioritize research and development in the field.
This was before the explosion of ChatGPT, NVIDIA, and Apple's multi-billion dollar push towards Apple Intelligence.
Heather West, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis said that the industry doesn't see the U.S. government's impending transition of power as a huge threat to AI development. She says a bipartisan consensus exists for the balance between research and safety.
"There's no reason to believe that we'll be doing a 180 when it comes to the work of the AI Safety Institute."
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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