While deregulation may boost American AI leadership, central planning and industrial policy could throttle private progress.
By Staff Writer | Ordo Liberalis News | July 25, 2025
President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled its long-anticipated AI Action Plan on Wednesday, presenting a sweeping vision for American dominance in artificial intelligence. Framed as a strategic response to global competition, the plan aims to position the U.S. as the undisputed leader in AI innovation, infrastructure, and diplomacy.
But while the plan’s deregulatory elements could accelerate progress, critics warn that its top-down industrial policies may interfere with the very private sector innovation that has fueled the AI revolution to date.
The AI Action Plan stems from Trump’s executive order issued in January, calling for the dismantling of bureaucratic barriers that hamper American technological leadership. The plan characterizes AI as a “transformative force”—equivalent to space exploration or the industrial revolution—and outlines three pillars:
- Accelerate AI innovation
- Build a national AI infrastructure
- Lead globally in AI standards and security
To jumpstart innovation, the plan takes direct aim at state-level AI regulation. It instructs federal agencies to withhold AI-related funding from states imposing what it deems “burdensome” laws that impede progress. Additionally, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will issue a formal request for public input to identify which federal rules are obstructing development.
But the most contentious aspect is Trump’s demand for “ideological neutrality” in AI systems used by federal agencies. The administration has ordered the removal of language related to misinformation, diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate change from the AI Risk Management Framework developed during the Biden years. Agencies will now be prohibited from using AI tools that are not explicitly “objective and free from top-down bias.”
The move is meant to prevent what the administration terms **“woke
