Trump’s AI Action Plan 2025
Last month, the White House released America’s AI Action Plan, a strategic framework built on three pillars: Accelerating AI innovation via deregulation of federal rules, Building American AI infrastructure, and Leading in international AI.
America’s AI Action Plan Review
- Accelerating AI innovation via deregulation of federal rules considered burdensome to AI development. This includes instructions to rescind policies related to DEI and climate change within the administration.
- Building American AI infrastructure: fast‑track permitting for data centres and chip fabs, deregulating environmental review, and upgrading grid and energy resources.
- Leading in international AI: increasing exports to allies while tightening export controls on critical AI components to “countries of concern,”.
This plan follows Executive Order 14179 from January 23, 2025, which rescinded prior Biden-era AI safety rules and mandated this plan be delivered within 180 days.
The U.S. AI Action Plan signals a pivot toward deregulated, government-backed AI expansion. By removing regulatory red tape, speeding up infrastructure approvals, and tightening export controls, the U.S. government is making the technology necessary for AI development accessible to U.S. allies and inaccessible to its rivals. In doing so, it positions itself as the gatekeeper of economic progress in the global AI supply chain.
For Canadian companies, which exist under a more cautious regulatory environment, this means decreased competitiveness against U.S. firms who are now able to deploy and scale AI more quickly and cheaply. The gap in AI-related infrastructure spending may also draw more data centers south of the border, where permitting and energy access will be easier.
In regard to human talent, the U.S. plan includes major funding for AI education and workforce development. Without matching investments, Canada risks losing high-skill workers. This could hurt not only startups and tech firms but have a ripple effect across other sectors like finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation—sectors which increasingly depend on AI.
While the U.S. removes regulatory barriers and scales infrastructure at speed, Canada’s AI Plan (released in 2024) has focused on responsible innovation—backing research institutes, launching a national AI compute strategy, and establishing the Canadian AI Safety Institute. These efforts reflect an ethical, though cautious, approach. However, without deregulations allowing for faster executions and policies to attract investments, Canadian firms risk being outpaced in the long run.