In July 2025, the White House released a comprehensive strategy document titled “America’s AI Action Plan: Winning the Race.” This ambitious roadmap outlines how the United States intends to achieve and maintain global dominance in artificial intelligence, framing AI leadership as both an economic imperative and a national security priority.
The Vision: A New Golden Age
The plan positions the AI race as analogous to the space race, emphasizing that whoever builds the largest AI ecosystem will set global standards and reap significant economic and military benefits. According to the document, winning this race will usher in “a new golden age of human flourishing” through simultaneous industrial and information revolutions.
President Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” initiated this effort on his first day back in office, directing the creation of a comprehensive AI Action Plan that would ensure American dominance in this critical technology sector.
Three Core Pillars
America’s AI Action Plan rests on three foundational pillars:
Pillar I: Accelerate AI Innovation
The first pillar focuses on removing regulatory barriers and fostering private-sector innovation. Key initiatives include:
Removing Red Tape: The Administration rescinded Biden’s Executive Order 14110, which it characterized as foreshadowing an “onerous regulatory regime.” The plan calls for a comprehensive review of federal regulations that hinder AI development, led by multiple agencies working with industry partners.
Protecting Free Speech: The plan mandates that AI systems be “free from ideological bias” and built to pursue objective truth rather than social engineering agendas. This includes revising NIST’s AI Risk Management Framework to eliminate references to misinformation, DEI, and climate change.
Open-Source Support: Recognizing the strategic value of open-source and open-weight AI models, the plan proposes improving access to large-scale computing power for startups and academic partners through initiatives like the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot.
Worker-First Approach: The Administration emphasizes that AI will complement American partners and workers rather than replace them. Specific measures include prioritizing AI skill development in education and workforce programs, establishing an AI Workforce Research
Hub, and providing tax incentives for employer-provided AI training through Section 132 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Government Adoption: The plan calls for accelerating AI adoption across federal agencies, including creating a Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Council, developing an AI procurement toolbox through GSA, and mandating that all federal employees whose work could benefit from AI have access to frontier language models.
Pillar II: Build American AI Infrastructure
The second pillar addresses the massive infrastructure requirements for AI dominance, particularly energy and computing capacity.
Streamlined Permitting: Building on the Administration’s environmental permitting reforms, the plan proposes establishing new NEPA Categorical Exclusions for data centers, expanding the FAST-41 process, and making federal lands available for data center construction and power generation infrastructure.
Grid Development: The plan outlines a three-phase approach to grid modernization: stabilizing today’s grid by preventing premature decommissioning of power sources, optimizing existing resources through advanced grid management technologies, and prioritizing interconnection of reliable, dispatchable power sources including enhanced geothermal, nuclear fission, and fusion.
Semiconductor Manufacturing: The revamped CHIPS Program Office will focus on delivering strong returns for taxpayers while removing “extraneous policy requirements.” The goal is to restore American semiconductor manufacturing leadership through strategic investments and streamlined regulations.
Workforce Training: Recognizing that infrastructure requires skilled workers, the plan calls for partnerships between federal agencies, states, and industry partners to identify high-priority occupations (electricians, HVAC technicians, etc.), develop skill frameworks, and expand career and technical education programs and Registered Apprenticeships.
Cybersecurity: The plan proposes establishing an AI Information Sharing and Analysis Center (AI-ISAC) to promote threat information sharing across critical infrastructure sectors, working with industry partners to enhance defensive capabilities.
Pillar III: Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security
The third pillar focuses on extending American AI leadership globally while protecting against adversaries.
Export American AI: The plan calls for establishing a program within the Department of Commerce to facilitate “full-stack AI export packages” (hardware, models, software, applications, and standards) to allies and partners. Multiple agencies would coordinate to facilitate deals meeting U.S.-approved security requirements.
Counter Chinese Influence: The Administration will leverage U.S. positions in international bodies to advocate for AI governance approaches that promote innovation, reflect American values, and counter authoritarian influence, working closely with diplomatic partners.
Export Controls: The plan strengthens enforcement of AI compute export controls through location verification features and enhanced monitoring. It also proposes developing new controls on semiconductor manufacturing subsystems and working with allies and partners to align protection measures globally.
Technology Diplomacy: Led by the State Department in coordination with Commerce, Defense, and Energy, the Administration will develop a strategic plan for an AI global alliance, ensuring that international partners adopt complementary AI protection systems and export controls.
Biosecurity: The plan addresses potential risks from AI-enabled biological threats by requiring federally funded research institutions to use synthesis tools with robust screening procedures, facilitating data sharing between synthesis providers, and working with partners to ensure international adoption of these safeguards.
Cross-Cutting Principles
Several themes run throughout all three pillars:
- American Workers First: Every aspect of the plan emphasizes creating high-paying jobs and ensuring American workers benefit from AI’s opportunities.
- Objective AI Systems: A commitment to ensuring AI systems are free from ideological bias and pursue truth when providing factual information.
- Vigilance Against Threats: Continuous monitoring for misuse by malicious actors and emerging risks, including through the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at the Department of Commerce.
The Path Forward
America’s AI Action Plan represents an ambitious, comprehensive strategy to ensure U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. By focusing on innovation, infrastructure, and international
cooperation with allies and partners, the Administration aims to secure economic prosperity, national security, and global technological dominance.
The document concludes with signatures from Michael J. Kratsios (Assistant to the President for Science and Technology), David O. Sacks (Special Advisor for AI and Crypto), and Marco A. Rubio (Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs), underscoring the plan’s importance across multiple dimensions of national strategy.
As the authors state: “The AI race is America’s to win, and this Action Plan is our roadmap to victory.” Whether this ambitious vision can be fully realized will depend on effective execution, sustained investment, and continued collaboration between government, industry, and international partners in the months and years ahead.
