What Is Trump's AI Action Plan?

Trump's AI Action Plan is the July 2025 White House plan for federal AI policy. At Layer3Labs, we build AI agents for small and mid-sized businesses, so we read plans like this one for what they change for companies using AI.

Released on July 23, 2025, "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan" identifies more than 90 federal policy actions across three pillars.

The plan's headline actions include faster permitting for data centers and energy projects. It also says the federal government should contract only with frontier large language model developers whose systems are "objective and free from top-down ideological bias."

Trump's AI Action Plan in One List

Trump's AI Action Plan organizes more than 90 federal policy initiatives into three primary pillars designed to secure American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI). The cover title is "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan." An Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) report cites it as "Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan." You can examine the complete text directly in the official America's AI Action Plan PDF and read the accompanying White House unveil release.

The document builds directly on Executive Order (EO) 14179, "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence," which was signed on January 23, 2025.

The plan sorts its actions into three pillars.

• Pillar I: Accelerate AI Innovation focuses on eliminating regulatory obstacles, supporting open-source software, and requiring ideological neutrality in commercial models contracted by federal agencies.
• Pillar II: Build American AI Infrastructure speeds up federal permitting for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and energy infrastructure.
• Pillar III: Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security establishes targeted trade programs to export the full American artificial intelligence technology stack to foreign partners.

Policy Actions on Regulation and State Funding

The plan asks OSTP to issue a Request for Information (RFI) on federal regulations that hinder AI.

The plan also says federal AI-related funding should not go to states "with burdensome AI regulations."

To see which states have passed their own AI laws, use our directory of state AI laws.

Standards for Ideological Neutrality and Federal Procurement

The plan says the federal government should contract only with frontier large language model (LLM) developers whose systems are "objective and free from top-down ideological bias." It also directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to revise the AI Risk Management Framework "to eliminate references to misinformation, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and climate change."

The same day, President Trump signed EO 14319, "Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government." It sets two "Unbiased AI Principles" for federal purchases of LLMs: truth-seeking and ideological neutrality.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) codified these standards on December 11, 2025, by issuing memorandum M-26-04, "Increasing Public Trust in Artificial Intelligence Through Unbiased AI Principles." If you sell a large language model to a federal agency, those two principles apply to that purchase.

Open Models and Workforce Actions in the Plan

The plan leaves the decision to release a model's weights to its developer. Its section "Encourage Open-Source and Open-Weight AI" says that decision "is fundamentally up to the developer."

The policy specifies that the federal government should create a supportive environment for open models.

The administration establishes a worker-first AI agenda, making AI skills a priority in workforce funding.

The plan directs the Department of the Treasury to release guidance on Section 132 tax-free AI training.

Data Center Permitting Reform and Energy Infrastructure

Executive Order 14318 speeds up federal permitting for large data center projects. President Trump signed EO 14318 alongside the plan on July 23, 2025. It covers data center projects that need more than 100 megawatts (MW) of new electricity load or at least $500 million in capital spending, among other qualifying routes.

EO 14318 formally revokes the earlier EO 14141. The plan calls for faster permitting for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and energy infrastructure. That includes new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusions for data center actions.

Immediate implementation followed the next day. On July 24, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) selected four sites on DOE lands for AI data centers.

The American AI Exports Program and Technology Packages

EO 14320, "Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack," gave the Department of Commerce 90 days to create the American AI Exports Program.

Commerce officially met this mandate on October 21, 2025, by launching the formal export initiative.

Under this program, the Department of Commerce collects proposals from commercial industry consortiums to bundle full-stack export packages.

Timeline of Implementation Milestones and Executive Orders

Federal agencies hit several milestones after the plan came out in July 2025. The White House published a record of these early accomplishments in the OSTP report on 2025 wins.

The rollout began with three coordinated executive orders on July 23, 2025: EO 14318 on data center permitting, EO 14319 on unbiased procurement principles, and EO 14320 on commercial technology exports.

The OSTP report lists these dates.

• July 24, 2025: The Department of Energy selected four sites on federal DOE lands for AI data centers.
• September 26, 2025: OSTP launched the public Request for Information titled "Regulatory Reform on Artificial Intelligence."
• October 21, 2025: The Department of Commerce formally initiated the American AI Exports Program.
• December 11, 2025: OMB issued memo M-26-04, "Increasing Public Trust in Artificial Intelligence Through Unbiased AI Principles."
• December 11, 2025: President Trump signed EO 14365, titled "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence."

The March 2026 Legislative Framework and State Preemption

In March 2026, the White House published legislative recommendations asking Congress to preempt restrictive state-level artificial intelligence regulations. The policy document, titled "National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence: Legislative Recommendations," outlines seven core legislative targets, as shown in the March 2026 legislative recommendations.

The seven sections include protecting children and empowering parents, intellectual property, free speech, innovation, workforce, and establishing a federal policy framework preempting cumbersome state AI laws. Under the section "Establishing a Federal Policy Framework, Preempting Cumbersome State AI Laws," the administration states that Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens.

Under the proposal, states would keep their traditional police powers, such as protecting children, combating fraud, and consumer protection. They would also keep zoning control over AI infrastructure and rules for their own use of AI. As of October 2026, our sources do not show the status of state-preemption proposals in Congress.

How the Action Plan Connects to the Super Intelligence Order

EO 14434, signed in September 2026, renames AI to "Super Intelligence" in federal usage. Its White House fact sheet dated September 29, 2026 lists the Action Plan among earlier actions.

The same fact sheet calls the March 2026 recommendations the "National Super Intelligence Policy Framework" and describes the Action Plan as "more than 90 Federal actions."

Related guides: the super intelligence executive order, the Genesis Mission, and the June 2026 AI executive order.

Practical Considerations for Enterprise AI Deployments

The March 2026 framework only recommends that Congress preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens. A recommendation does not override any state AI law.

If you sell a large language model to a federal agency, start with the EO 14319 fact sheet, which sets out the truth-seeking and ideological-neutrality principles for that purchase.

To check which state AI laws apply to your business alongside the Trump AI Action Plan, start with our AI law compliance tracker.