Winning The Race America S Ai Action Plan Key Pillars Policy

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 4, 2025, 9:21 PM

winning the race america s ai action plan key pillars policy

On July 23, 2025, the White House unveiled its “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan” (the “Plan”), a comprehensive roadmap outlining a series of policy goals and recommended policy actions intended “for near-term... This Alert summarizes the key elements of the Plan’s three pillars and highlights practical and legal implications for intellectual property attorneys, AI developers and enterprise users to consider. For background on recent federal procurement guidelines and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which similarly emphasize American-sourced AI and supply chain integrity, please refer to our prior alerts (available hereand here). The first pillar of the Plan is focused on fostering U.S. leadership in the development, deployment, and application of AI technologies. The Plan directs federal agencies to cut back on regulations that “unnecessarily hinder AI development or deployment”4 and to review and evaluate any enforcement actions that could slow AI innovation.5 The Plan suggests that...

In addition, it advocates for and prioritizes open-source and “open-weight”7 AI models, regulatory sandboxes8 for real-world testing, and workforce training and “upskilling ”9 to prepare the American workforce for AI-driven economic shifts. The second pillar of the Plan addresses the need for a robust physical and digital foundation to support greater U.S. AI leadership. The Plan is designed to encourage a more streamlined permitting process for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and energy infrastructure, including new environmental exemptions and increasing the availability of federal lands for data center and... semiconductor manufacturing, building high-security data centers for military and intelligence use, and developing a skilled workforce to support these efforts.11 The Plan further calls for enhanced cybersecurity for critical infrastructure and the creation of... The third pillar of the Plan is designed to extend U.S.

AI leadership globally, protect critical AI technologies, and counter foreign adversarial influence, particularly from China.13 The Plan recommends establishing a “full-stack” AI export strategy14 that provides hardware, models, software, applications, and standards to allies... America is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence (AI). Winning this race will usher in a new era of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people. Recognizing this, President Trump directed the creation of an AI Action Plan in the early days of his second term in office. Based on the three pillars of accelerating innovation, building AI infrastructure, and leading in international diplomacy and security, this Action Plan is America’s roadmap to win the race. America must have the most powerful AI systems in the world, but we must also lead the world in creative and transformative application of those systems.

Ultimately, it is the uses of technology that create economic growth, new jobs, and scientific advancements. America must invent and embrace productivity enhancing AI uses that the world wants to emulate. Achieving this requires the Federal government to create the conditions where private sector-led innovation can flourish. AI is the first digital service in modern life that challenges America to build vastly greater energy generation than we have today. American energy capacity has stagnated since the 1970s while China has rapidly built out their grid. America’s path to AI dominance depends on changing this troubling trend.

That requires streamlining permitting, strengthening and growing the electric grid, and creating the workforce to build it all. To succeed in the global AI competition, America must do more than promote AI within its own borders. The United States must also drive adoption of American AI systems, computing hardware, and standards throughout the world. America currently is the global leader on data center construction, computing hardware performance, and models. It is imperative that the United States leverage this advantage into an enduring global alliance, while preventing our adversaries from free-riding on our innovation and investment. In this video, partners Hope Anderson, Erin Hanson and Tim Hickman discuss key considerations for AI companies.

Following the release of the Executive Order Removing Barriers to American Leadership in AI in January 2025, the White House announced a comprehensive new policy initiative on July 23, 2025 titled Winning the Race:... This initiative outlines the Trump Administration's vision for securing US leadership and dominance in artificial intelligence and delivering its benefits to businesses and consumers. The AI Action Plan is built on three core pillars: (I) Accelerating AI Innovation; (II) Building American AI Infrastructure; and (III) Leading in International AI Diplomacy and Security. In addition to its structural pillars, the AI Action Plan is guided by three foundational principles: This client alert provides an overview of the AI Action Plan's policy goals and highlights key takeaways for businesses. The first pillar of the AI Action Plan lays out a roadmap aimed at securing US leadership in artificial intelligence by fostering an environment where private-sector innovation thrives.

Accordingly, the federal government is tasked with removing regulatory barriers and actively incentivizing AI development and adoption. According to the AI Action Plan, "AI is far too important to smother in bureaucracy at this early stage, whether at the state or federal level." This deregulatory approach was previewed earlier during congressional... While that measure failed, the AI Action Plan directs federal agencies to consider state AI regulatory frameworks when allocating AI-related discretionary federal funding and to assess whether restrictive state policies hinder innovation in the... The White House released "Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan" (Plan) on July 23, 2025, in accordance with President Donald Trump's Jan. 23, 2025, executive order on "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence." Specifically, the 28-page Plan details more than 90 federal policy actions the Trump Administration intends to implement over the next few years, emphasizing that the U.S.

needs to "innovate faster and more comprehensively than our competitors in the development and distribution of new AI technology across every field, and dismantle unnecessary regulatory barriers that hinder the private sector in doing... The Plan envisions "a new golden age of human flourishing," marked by three simultaneous transformations: an industrial revolution, an information revolution and a renaissance in science and the arts. It is structured around three core pillars: 1) Accelerate AI Innovation, 2) Build American AI Infrastructure and 3) Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security. Cutting across these three pillars are three principles: The Plan is meant to be implemented via executive action in the near term. President Trump also signed three AI-related executive orders on the day the Plan was released:

On July 23, 2025, the White House released “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” a document outlining nonbinding policy goals for federal regulation and support of artificial intelligence (AI). The action plan mirrors many of President Trump’s existing policy aims, including a focus on US manufacturing, deregulation, trade, and content restrictions. This On the Subject summarizes the main objectives set forth in the action plan and provides key takeaways for AI developers, deployers, and consumers. While the action plan is broadly structured to focus on key “pillars” that represent overarching policy goals, each pillar contains distinct action items in a wide range of industries. The following is a brief summary of key objectives in the action plan, organized by industry. Many aspects of the action plan support AI development and deployment.

Two of the more interesting aspects of the action plan that directly implicate AI developers are that it: The AI action plan specifically requires the US Department of Commerce (DOC) to revise the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework (RMF) to eliminate references to misinformation; diversity, equity,... AI developers and other stakeholders that have implemented AI governance frameworks based on the NIST AI RMF, particularly those with contractual obligations to do so, should monitor for updates to the NIST AI RMF... By encouraging more open-source and open-weight AI models, the administration appears to be seeking ways to improve access to large-scale computing power for startups and academics. AI developers are also encouraged to partner with the National AI Research Resource so start-ups and academics can rent large-scale AI development infrastructure without entering into long-term contracts. The administration expressed support for National Telecommunications and Information Administration-led programs to help small and mid-sized businesses adopt open-source AI models.

Importantly, the action plan makes it clear that the decision “to release an open or closed model is fundamentally up to the developer.” On July 23, 2025, the White House announced its long-awaited comprehensive AI Action Plan titled “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan” (the Plan). The Plan is aimed at positioning the U.S. as the global leader in AI and is a follow up to President Donald Trump’s January 23, 2025, Executive Order on “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” which revoked the Biden Administration’s... The AI Action Plan contains more than 90 policy actions related to three key pillars: 1) Accelerating AI Innovation, 2) Building American AI Infrastructure, and 3) Leading in International AI Diplomacy and Security. This alert touches on all three pillars with a focus on the first, which outlines the Trump Administration’s strategic vision and policy recommendations to drive innovation in the American AI sector.

To ensure that the U.S. maintains its leadership in AI, the Plan emphasizes removing “red tape and onerous regulations” focused on three areas: 1) state regulations on AI, 2) regulations affecting AI innovation, and 3) previous FTC actions. AI Adoption Through a “Try-First” Culture The Plan aims to address the slow adoption of AI in critical sectors, such as healthcare, by encouraging a “try-first” culture for AI. Notably, the Plan recommends that agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) establish regulatory sandboxes “where researchers, startups, and established enterprises can rapidly deploy and test AI tools while committing to open sharing of data and results.” In light of the...

To further address the problem of slow adoption of AI within critical sectors, the Plan recommends launching domain-specific initiatives (e.g., in healthcare, energy, and agriculture) to develop national standards for AI and calls for...

Winning The Race America S Ai Action Plan Key Pillars Policy

People Also Search

On July 23, 2025, The White House Unveiled Its “Winning

In Addition, It Advocates For And Prioritizes Open-source And “open-weight”7

AI Leadership Globally, Protect Critical AI Technologies, And Counter Foreign

Ultimately, It Is The Uses Of Technology That Create Economic

That Requires Streamlining Permitting, Strengthening And Growing The Electric Grid,