Donald Trump rolled out a new AI action plan this week targeting the US tech scene. Speaking at a Washington summit called “Winning the AI Race,” Trump promised to slash regulations he says are choking innovation.
The plan centers on three executive orders aimed at turning the US into an “AI export powerhouse” by dismantling Biden-era safety and security rules. One order bans federally funded AI from carrying “ideological dogmas such as DEI.” The other two focus on deregulation, easing export controls and fast-tracking permits for energy-hungry data centers.
Trump addressed a room full of tech heavyweights including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Palantir’s Shyam Sankar. The event was co-hosted by the Hill and Valley Forum and the Silicon Valley All-in Podcast, run by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks. 
Trump called on Silicon Valley to embrace patriotism and drop red tape:
“America must once again be a country where innovators are rewarded with a green light, not strangled with red tape, so they can’t move, so they can’t breathe.”
“Winning the AI race will demand a new spirit of patriotism and national loyalty in Silicon Valley – and long beyond Silicon Valley.”
“I’ve been watching for many years,” Trump added. “I’ve watched regulation. I’ve been a victim of regulation.”
Tech firms have been cozying up to Trump ahead of this. CEOs from Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Apple gave to his inauguration fund and met him at Mar-a-Lago. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Nvidia’s Huang are close allies. Nvidia pledged $500 billion in AI infrastructure investment over four years under Trump’s plan.
Lobbying by tech giants remains intense. A new Issue One report says eight major tech companies spent $36 million lobbying so far in 2025. Meta leads with $13.8 million and 86 lobbyists. Nvidia’s lobbying shot up 388%, OpenAI’s up 44%.
More than 100 civil rights, labor, and environmental groups fired back with their own “People’s AI action plan.” They warned against letting “big tech and big oil lobbyists write the rules for AI” harming workers, families, and the environment.
Despite pushback, industry heavyweights including Microsoft, IBM, Dell, Meta, Palantir, Nvidia, Anthropic, and xAI praised Trump’s executive orders. James Czerniawski of the Consumer Choice Center called it a “bold vision” that breaks from Biden’s “hostile regulatory approach.”
