Executive Order 14179, titled "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence," is an executive order signed by Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States, on January 23, 2025. The order initiates a process to strengthen U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence by promoting AI development free from ideological bias or social agendas, establishing an action plan to maintain global AI dominance, and revising or rescinding policies that conflict with these goals. It serves as the replacement for the previous administration's AI regulatory framework.
The order directs federal agencies to review and potentially revoke existing AI policies, mandates the creation of a national AI action plan, and instructs the Office of Management and Budget to align its guidance with the new policy direction. It emphasizes human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security as core objectives, while explicitly stating that it does not create new enforceable rights or benefits.
Background
Joe Biden's Executive Order 14110
This executive order responds to Executive Order 14110, titled "Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence," signed by Joe Biden on October 30, 2023. The Biden order established a comprehensive framework for AI governance, including safety assessments, civil rights protections, and federal agency oversight. It directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop AI safety standards and required federal agencies to evaluate AI systems for potential risks.
Donald Trump's Initial Actions
Donald Trump rescinded Executive Order 14110 on his first day in office, January 20, 2025, through the "Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions" executive order. This action removed the Biden-era AI safety framework and set the stage for a new approach. On January 23, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14179 as the replacement covering AI technology development, signaling a shift from a safety-first regulatory posture to a deregulatory, innovation-focused stance.
Provisions
The order contains several key provisions. It revokes existing AI policies and directives seen as barriers to U.S. AI innovation, including those established under the previous administration. It mandates the creation of an action plan within 180 days to sustain U.S. AI leadership, focusing on human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.
The order requires a comprehensive review of policies, directives, and regulations related to Executive Order 14110 from October 2023 to identify actions that may conflict with the new policy goals. Federal agencies are instructed to suspend, revise, or rescind actions from the previous executive order that are inconsistent with the new policy direction.
The Office of Management and Budget must revise certain memoranda, specifically M-24-10 and M-24-18, within 60 days to align with the new policy. The order specifies that it does not create new enforceable rights or benefits and should be implemented within the boundaries of existing law and appropriations.
Implementation
The National Science and Technology Council's Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) program, on behalf of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), requested public input on the development of an AI Action Plan by March 15, 2025. This request sought comments from industry, academia, and the public on how to achieve the order's objectives.
The implementation process involves multiple federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy, which are tasked with reviewing their AI-related policies and programs. The action plan is expected to address infrastructure, research funding, and international competitiveness.
Reactions
Over 10,000 public comments were submitted in response to the OSTP request for public input, reflecting significant engagement from stakeholders across sectors. The comments included detailed recommendations from major technology companies and research organizations.
OpenAI submitted comments proposing a five-point strategy focused on regulatory preemption, export controls, copyright protections, infrastructure investment, and government adoption. The company emphasized the ability to learn from copyrighted material to maintain America's lead against China's state-controlled AI efforts, including DeepSeek. OpenAI argued that access to diverse training data is essential for advancing large language models and maintaining competitive advantage.
Google submitted comments advocating for a three-pronged plan that invests in domestic AI development through energy infrastructure reform, balanced export controls, continued research funding, and coherent federal policies. Google also recommended modernizing government AI adoption and promoting innovation-friendly approaches internationally.
Both OpenAI and Google urged White House opposition to foreign copyright and transparency obligations, citing the UK Government's preferred option in their Copyright and AI consultation as an example. This position reflects concerns about international regulatory divergence affecting U.S. AI companies.
Impact on AI Policy Landscape
The order represents a significant shift in U.S. AI policy from the prior administration's approach. It emphasizes deregulation and private-sector leadership over federal oversight, aligning with broader efforts to promote innovation in machine learning and generative AI. The order's focus on removing barriers is intended to accelerate development of AI technologies, including neural networks and transformer architectures.
The order's implementation could affect various aspects of AI development, including data access, model training, and deployment. It may influence how companies approach model pruning and other efficiency techniques, as well as how they handle data augmentation and other training practices.
See Also
- A National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence
- List of executive orders in the first presidency of Donald Trump
- List of executive actions by Joe Biden
- List of executive orders in the second presidency of Donald Trump
- Artificial intelligence
- Generative artificial intelligence