# America’s AI policy U-turn, explained

URL: https://ai-pulse.aglaganova.com/blog/americas-ai-policy-u-turn-explained
Published: 2026-10-09
Author: Roman Aglaganov, Full-stack developer
Category: Policy
Region: North America
Tags: regulation

> In under two years, Washington went from an executive order focused on AI safety testing to an action plan focused on speed, infrastructure and exports. Meanwhile, the states started writing their own rules.

![The north facade of the White House with a fountain and red flower beds in front](https://ai-pulse.aglaganova.com/api/media/file/white-house-1.jpg)

The United States has no comprehensive federal AI law. Instead, national AI policy has largely been set by presidential executive orders, which means it can change direction as fast as the person signing them.

## 2023: safety first

In October 2023, President Biden signed Executive Order 14110 on “safe, secure, and trustworthy” AI. Among other things, it required developers of the most powerful models to share the results of safety tests with the government, and it asked federal agencies to write guidance on everything from AI in hiring to watermarking AI-generated content.

## 2025: speed first

On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Trump revoked that order. Three days later he signed Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence”, which called for a plan to keep the US dominant in AI.

That plan, “America’s AI Action Plan”, arrived in July 2025 with more than 90 proposed federal actions under three pillars: accelerating innovation by cutting red tape, building AI infrastructure such as data centres and the power plants to run them, and leading in international diplomacy and security, including exporting American AI technology to allies.

## Meanwhile, in the states

With Congress yet to pass a broad AI law, states have stepped in. Colorado passed a law in 2024 targeting discrimination by high-risk AI systems, and in 2025 California enacted a law requiring the largest AI developers to publish their safety frameworks and report serious incidents. The result is a patchwork, and a running argument about whether national rules should override state ones.

**The contrast with Europe:** the EU wrote one big law and is phasing it in; the US is steering by executive order, industry deals and state legislatures. Both approaches will be tested by the same technology, which does not respect borders, and does not read the Federal Register either.

## Sources

- [Executive Order 14110 (2023), Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24283/safe-secure-and-trustworthy-development-and-use-of-artificial-intelligence)
- [Executive Order 14179 (2025), Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/31/2025-02172/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence)
- [America’s AI Action Plan (July 2025, PDF)](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Americas-AI-Action-Plan.pdf)