Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump is set to return to the White House after securing a little over 270 electoral college votes, surpassing the majority mark in the 2024 presidential election. With this win, Trump has not only changed the political landscape but is also likely to alter the technology landscape globally.
The former president, who has expressed enthusiasm for and scepticism about Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the past, has left the AI industry leaders feel optimistic about the future.
Trump is not a proponent of regulating AI companies. Throughout his campaign, he revealed several plans to significantly change the AI ecosystem in the United States and beyond. One key policy decision that the industry is hoping for is the deregulation of Biden’s 2023 Executive Order on AI, which Trump has promised to revoke once he comes to power.
The policy mostly focuses on stringent measures, and practices that AI firms need to follow. The order was drafted to avoid misuse, misinformation and any dangerous consequences that would affect the public in several key sectors.
Expect a more lax approach to AI regulation in the US with Trump’s election win. “With the combination of Chevron Deference being diminished and a new administration pulling back the enforcement efforts of the FTC and other agencies, we’ll see a vacuum of federal governance over… pic.twitter.com/b7z0OkSE5j
— Parmy Olson (@parmy) November 6, 2024
The First Reactions – MAGA With AI
Despite Trump threatening to throw Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in prison for possibly meddling with the elections, and taking on Google saying it could be broken because its search results are ‘rigged’, tech industry leaders are lining up to congratulate the leader on his win.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took to X to send his wishes to the newly elected and said, “No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing Donald Trump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman extended his diplomatic wishes to Trump and said, “It is critically important that the US maintains its lead in developing AI with democratic values.” Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Sundar Pichai also expressed his support and said, “We are in a golden age of American innovation and are committed to working with his administration to help bring the benefits to everyone.”
During in presidency, Trump acknowledged the importance of AI and even signed an executive order in 2019 to promote the development of AI. He also used AI to rewrite his political speech during his campaigns this year and expressed his excitement over it. “What it does is so crazy. Now, it can also be really used for good,” Trump had said in an interaction with American influencer Logan Paul.
With his win, people in the industry predict a shift in the technological landscape and the economic impact it is expected to create. Tesla CEO Elon Musk who runs the biggest Electric Vehicle company in the US had significantly supported Trump’s campaign, reportedly spending $175 million. Musk is expected to be the chief beneficiary of the result amid Trump’s views against the EV market over tax credit given by the government.
Dan Ives, MD, equity research at Wedbush Securities, said in an interview with CNBC,” For a Tesla bull, if you wake up, this is exactly what you want to see, and of course, Musk will clearly have a big voice in the administration.”
However, exploring the other side of the narrative, Ives also said on X that “A major change in tariffs/harsher stance on China would significantly impact the supply chain, Nvidia, Beijing retaliatory Apple/Tesla likely, and slow the pace of the AI Revolution.”
Raul Brens Jr., acting senior director at GeoTech Center, Atlantic Council, said, “The second Trump administration will likely chart a different course on AI than the one taken over the past four years. Trump has historically favoured limited government regulation, emphasising AI as a tool to strengthen US competitiveness, particularly against China.”
Kai-Fu Lee, author and founder of Chinese AI startup 01.AI, wrote a blog post explaining five influential factors in Trump’s victory, which indicates his stance on an optimistic future for America.
Contrary to Biden’s policy, Trump’s allies at the American First Policy Institute have drafted an order and aim to create a ‘Manhattan Project’-esque effort to propel AI technology, especially in the defense sector.
Some of the most influential names in the AI industry believe that removing Biden’s order could open up the market for an unprecedented rate of innovation, benefiting technological advancements and the economy. The lack of guardrails could also increase investments in the AI ecosystem.
Trump Endorsers Look to Reap Rewards
While not all tech company CEOs have publicly endorsed Trump, a few notable figures were quite vocal about their support—barring the obvious, Elon Musk. Over the last few months, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, founders of a16z, have extended their support to Donald Trump. Both of them donated $2.5 million each to ‘Right for America’, a pro-Donald Trump PAC. Andreesen believes Trump’s policies are favourable for big tech and AI.
In a podcast episode hosted by both, Horowitz said “ The future of our business, the future of technology, new technology and the future of America is literally at stake so here we are, and for a little tech we think Donald Trump is actually the right choice”.
Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and a notable VC, a few months ago said, “If you hold a gun to my head, I will vote for Trump”.
Crystal McKeller, founder at Aloft VC, in an interview published a day before the result, said: “They’re (Trump and J.D Vance) not going to just roll back regulations that are stifling American industry, but they are actually going to actively implement policies that will stimulate growth and encourage innovation.”
Moreover, Trump also proposed several immigration policies favourable to aspiring talent. In a podcast episode, he said, “What I will do is, I think you should get automatically as part of your diploma a green card to be able to stay in this country.” However, Debarghya Das, a VC at Menlo Ventures pointed out on X that “His (Trump’s) last administration was not statistically favourable for legal high-skilled immigration.”
Not all is Well
Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief AI scientist has been quite vocal in criticising Donald Trump and has frequently engaged in a verbal battle with Musk. While Meta may benefit from the broader advantage of loosening the regulations, they’re clearly not expecting any pleasant surprises from Trump’s second term.
Without any direct engagement with Trump, several companies have maintained a strong stance on AI safety and regulations. Anthropic recently released a blogpost emphasising the need for AI control and regulation. They said the government should urgently take action on AI policy in the next eighteen months to proactiveley prevent risksk.
Trump’s victory, and his alliance with Elon Musk may also leave OpenAI uncomfortable. Musk has more than criticised OpenAI’s practices, and given the expectation that he may have a leading voice in Trump 2.0, Sam Altman would have certainly wished for the other possibility in the election results.
OpenAI is evil
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2024
Sundar Pichai acknowledges the need for AI regulations that could alleviate potential dangers that may arise from the technology. Moreover, key figures like Ilya Sutskever who left OpenAI to build AI tech that priortizes safety may not favour loosened guardrails that regulate AI.
While removing stringent policies can momentarily increase the capital influx into the AI industry and strengthen America’s global technological dominance, it’s imperative that the new government strike a balance between the two.
Furthermore, Trump’s plans to use AI to amplify America’s defense and military capabilities may lead to impactful developments for the private sector, especially for startups that are focusing on building technology in the interests of national security.
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