Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Congress has made a lot of noise on AI over the past few years, but the White House is poised to signal its own direction this week.
Why it matters: Bipartisan agreement over what should be done on AI could come to an end after the White House weighs in, given Congress' track record of delivering wins for President Trump.
- The White House is set to unveil its long-awaited AI action plan, meant to steer the U.S. government to accelerate AI development in a bid to beat China.
- As Axios scooped last week, the 20-page document is largely about messaging a hands-off, pro-growth approach to AI.
Flashback: Congress started tackling the tech with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's bipartisan AI working group in 2023, which convened AI leaders, civil society and business groups to discuss regulating AI.
- That effort didn't result in much legislative action, though it was educational for members and a chance for AI leaders to get a seat at the table in D.C.
- Trump won re-election and promptly shifted the AI discussion to acceleration rather than safety, and Congress' efforts on AI got a little more muddled.
Case in point: Republicans were divided over whether to include a moratorium on state-level AI in the recently passed reconciliation bill, and the effort ultimately flamed out.
- The action plan is likely to encourage states not to aggressively regulate AI, and focus on promoting innovation, reducing regulatory burdens and overhauling permitting.
- It also zeroes in on workforce development, making American tech standards the basis for the rest of the world, and eliminating biases in AI via a related executive order targeting "woke" AI.
The White House approach could ultimately collide with ideas from Congress.
- Sens. Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal are introducing a bill on Monday to give individual creators the right to sue tech companies for training their AI models with their data without their consent.
- That seems unlikely to be embraced by the same GOP leaders who've pushed back against other tech privacy bills that aimed to give people more opportunities to take legal action against private companies.
What we're watching: We'll be curious to see which members of Congress quickly align themselves with the AI plan and sponsor bills that support its goals, along with where else dividing lines on AI end up after this week.
