The Trump administration has announced a major overhaul of the federal government’s approach to artificial intelligence, marking a decisive shift from the cautious approach of the previous administration. With two new directives – M-25-21 and M-25-22 – the White House is promoting an innovation-focused strategy aimed at strengthening US global leadership in AI and modernising public services. The goal is twofold: first, to remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to promote the rapid and effective adoption of AI within federal agencies; and second, to ensure that this adoption is responsible and respectful of the fundamental rights and freedoms of American citizens.
The new paradigm is based on strengthening leadership roles: Chief AI Officers will become key figures in the promotion of AI, responsible not only for the dissemination of low-risk solutions, but also for assessing and mitigating the risks associated with “high-impact” systems. To this end, each agency will have to provide an assessment of its level of maturity in adopting AI. The administration aims to simplify procedures, avoid creating new levels of authorisation and apply the same rules that already exist for government IT to AI tools.
From a technology procurement perspective, Directive M-25-22 provides concise guidelines to facilitate access to excellent AI solutions through competitive, fast and transparent processes. The goal is to strengthen the national AI marketplace to promote innovation, security and economic prosperity. Agencies are encouraged to use performance-based techniques and draw on a common repository of tools to facilitate procurement.
Finally, AI is already being applied in strategic areas: the Department of Veterans Affairs is using AI to improve early diagnosis of lung cancer; the Department of Justice is using it to analyse global drug trafficking flows; NASA is using it to enable the Mars rover to navigate autonomously and safely. In short, under the impetus of the Trump administration, artificial intelligence is becoming a driver of efficiency, competitiveness and geopolitical centrality for the United States.
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