A New Era for AI

­The changing of the guard at Chief Executive has brought a number of immediate changes, including a significant course-correction for AI. But are we on the right path or is AI simply the next ideological battleground?

In 2023, Joe Biden issued a sweeping Executive Order that promoted the “safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of artificial intelligence” by involving the federal government in nearly every step of the AI development process.

Amongst other things, it would’ve directed the NIST to establish guidelines and best practices for the “safe, secure, and trustworthy” deployment of AI.

The Commerce Department would’ve established requirements for companies developing potential dual-use foundation models, the Treasury Department would’ve weighed in on best practices for financial institutions deploying AI, and that’s a mere whiff of this comprehensive EO.

I say would’ve because amongst President Trump’s whirlwind of Day 1 activities was rescinding Biden’s 2023 AI Executive Order. We’re getting a squeaky-clean start, for better or worse.

In place of Biden’s EO, Trump has announced the Stargate AI Project, a $500 billion goliath and the most ambitious AI venture ever proposed – so ambitious, in fact, that one of Trump’s key allies has already thrown salt on the idea.

The project positions the U.S. at the forefront of AI development, with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank set to immediately invest $100 billion and $400 billion to follow over the next 4 years.

“Immediately, Stargate will be building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI,” said Trump. “And this will include the construction of colossal data centers.”

On its website, OpenAI claims Stargate will “secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefit for the entire world.”  

Indeed, the first of the project’s data centers is already under construction in Texas, with an eventual total of 20 (half a million square feet apiece).

There’s just one problem – one of Trump’s loyal compatriots, Elon Musk, doesn’t think the financials are feasible.

“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk wrote on X. “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”

I should, however, point out that Musk (at least as of this writing) is involved in an ongoing lawsuit with OpenAI and has said he “doesn’t trust” CEO Sam Altman. So there’s that.

So we’ve got two very different approaches to AI’s development – a comprehensive federal effort vs. a collaboration that’s mostly private sector. And there’s a chance the next Chief Executive could institute another course-correction in 2028.

Either way, the U.S. is poised to take a serious lead in AI’s (hopefully) responsible development.