White House Releases AI Action Plan, Focused on Cutting Regulatory 'Red Tape'

The White House released a highly anticipated artificial intelligence action plan on Wednesday that calls for removing regulations that could hinder innovation in the emerging field, along with several other initiatives.

The plan stems from an executive order in January, which explicitly stated that federal AI-related funding should not flow to states that implement burdensome AI regulations that "waste these funds." At the same time, the document emphasizes that the federal government should avoid interfering with states' rights to pass "prudent laws that do not improperly restrict innovation."

"To maintain U.S. leadership in the global AI field, the private sector must not be constrained by bureaucratic red tape," the White House said in a statement.

The announcement comes as state AI regulations and legislative proposals are rapidly accumulating, creating a complex regulatory environment for businesses and their chief financial officers.

"AI technology is too important to be strangled by bureaucracy in its early stages, whether at the state or federal level," the White House plan states.

Earlier this month, in the final stages of passing the so-called "Big and Beautiful Act," the Senate removed a provision that would have paused state AI regulations. Previously, an attempt by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, to push a compromise also failed.

Paul Lekas, global public policy head at the Software & Information Industry Association, said it is too early to assess the potential impact of the administration's call to cut state-level AI regulatory "red tape."

"We don't yet know how federal agencies will attach conditions to AI-related discretionary funding, so we must watch this closely," Lekas said in an interview.

He added: "In the absence of congressional action, the executive branch has limited means to directly incentivize states to change laws or enforcement priorities. I think the most important thing in this plan is that it depicts an AI innovation ecosystem across multiple domains—almost a whole-of-society framework."

Trump calls for unified federal standards

Hours after the White House released the plan, President Donald Trump called for a federal AI standard that "supersedes all states."

"If you have to comply with 50 different sets of state laws, the strictest state will ultimately dominate everything," the president said at an AI summit in Washington.

The executive order Trump signed on January 23 required the development of an AI action plan within 180 days, under the leadership of White House AI and crypto special adviser David Sacks and other administration officials.

The plan released Wednesday identifies more than 90 federal policy actions across three pillars—innovation, AI infrastructure, and international diplomacy and security—which the White House statement says the administration plans to advance in the coming weeks to months.

"To remain the leading economic and military power, the United States must win the AI race," Sacks said in the statement.

The plan calls on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to solicit public information on current federal regulations hindering AI innovation and application, and to take appropriate action with relevant U.S. agencies. The White House also assigned the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate an effort to "identify, revise, or repeal regulations, rules, memoranda, executive orders, guidance documents, policy statements, and interagency agreements that unnecessarily hinder AI development or deployment."

The Office of Management and Budget will also work with federal agencies that have AI-related discretionary funding programs to ensure they consider states' AI regulatory environments when making funding decisions. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission will assess whether state AI regulations interfere with its ability to carry out its duties under the Communications Act. The plan also calls for a review of all Federal Trade Commission investigations initiated by the previous administration to ensure they do not advance liability theories that "improperly burden AI innovation."

Other areas in the plan include:

• Updating federal procurement guidelines to ensure the government only contracts with "frontier large language model developers" that guarantee their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias;
• Accelerating and modernizing data center permitting processes;
• Advocating for international AI governance approaches that "promote innovation, reflect American values, and resist authoritarian influence."

Mixed reactions

The plan received a welcome from industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"This forward-looking plan takes steps to accelerate innovation by fixing the regulatory environment damaged by conflicting state laws and activist overreach, streamlining permitting for critical AI infrastructure, ensuring reliable and affordable energy for consumers and businesses, and advancing U.S. leadership in AI diplomacy," Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the Chamber, said in a statement.

In a statement released by the Software & Information Industry Association, Lekas called the plan "a meaningful strategy" to promote AI innovation.

"This plan provides a roadmap to solidify the U.S. position as a global AI leader by supporting innovation and safety, enhancing American competitiveness, and ensuring AI benefits are widely shared," he said in the statement.

He said the association, whose members include Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta, is particularly encouraged by the plan's focus on workforce development and AI literacy as core elements of AI infrastructure.

But the plan also drew criticism. J.B. Branch, "Big Tech accountability advocate" at the Washington-based consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, called the plan a "sweetheart deal" for tech giants.

"This is not leadership—this is selling out," he said in a statement. "Americans deserve an AI future based on safety, fairness, and accountability—not handouts to billionaires."

The American Civil Liberties Union also criticized the plan.

"President Trump's attempt to restrict state AI regulations is not only harmful but raises serious legal issues because the president's actions go beyond any statute passed by Congress," Cody Venzke, senior policy adviser at the ACLU, said in a statement.

He added: "Congress overwhelmingly rejected this approach with a 99-to-1 Senate vote, removing it from a major bill, and 17 Republican governors publicly opposed it. Now the administration is moving forward unilaterally."

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include expert commentary on the AI plan and remarks from President Trump.