U.S. presidential administrations tend to have big impacts on tech around the world. So it should be taken as a given that when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, his second administration will do the same. Perhaps more than usual, even, as he staffs his cabinet with people closely linked to the Heritage Foundation, the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank behind the controversial 900-page Mandate for Leadership (also known as Project 2025). The incoming administration will affect far more than technology and engineering, of course, but here at IEEE Spectrum, we’ve dug into how Trump’s second term is likely to impact those sectors.
Read on to find out more, or click to navigate to a specific topic. This post will be updated as more information comes in.
During Trump’s campaign, he vowed to rescind President Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, saying in his platform that it “hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology.” Experts expect him to follow through on that promise, potentially killing momentum on many regulatory fronts, such as dealing with AI-generated misinformation and protecting people from algorithmic discrimination.
However, some of the executive order’s work has already been done; rescinding it wouldn’t unwrite reports or roll back decisions made by various cabinet secretaries, such as the Commerce secretary’s establishment of an AI Safety Institute. While Trump could order his new Commerce secretary to shut down the institute, some experts think it has enough bipartisan support to survive. “It develops standards and processes that promote trust and safety—that’s important for corporate users of AI systems, not just for the public,” saysDoug Calidas, senior vice president of government affairs for the advocacy group Americans for Responsible Innovation.
As for new initiatives, Trump is expected to encourage the use of AI for national security. It’s also likely that, in the name of keeping ahead of China, he’ll expand export restrictions relating to AI technology. Currently, U.S. semiconductor companies can’t sell their most advanced chips to Chinese firms, but that rule contains a gaping loophole: Chinese companies need only sign up for U.S.-based cloud computing services to get their computations done on state-of-the-art hardware. Trump may close this loophole with restrictions on Chinese companies’ use of cloud computing. He could even expand export controls to restrict Chinese firms’ access to foundation models’ weights—the numerical parameters that define how a machine learning model does its job. —Eliza Strickland
Trump plans to implement hefty tariffs on imported goods, including a 60 percent tariff on goods from China, 25 percent on those from Canada and Mexico, and a blanket 10 or 20 percent tariff on all other imports. He’s pledged to do this on day 1 of his administration, and once…
Read full article: Trump’s Administration Will Impact AI, Energy, Crypto and More
The post “Trump’s Administration Will Impact AI, Energy, Crypto and More” by IEEE Spectrum was published on 11/27/2024 by spectrum.ieee.org