President Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting state-level regulations on artificial intelligence is seen as a “major win” for Big Tech companies, including Microsoft (MSFT) and others, investment firm Wedbush said.
“This move is a major win for U.S. Big Tech firms including OpenAI (OPENAI), Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Anthropic (ANTHRO), Meta (META), and many more AI companies across the landscape that have been lobbying to limit AI regulations as these would provide significant hurdles with limiting the innovation and deployment of this technology across all businesses,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients. “With trillions of dollars of investments coming into building out AI infrastructure and other technologies, this was a strategic move to streamline the regulatory process and focus on American dominance in this industry with more foreign adversaries accelerating efforts to emerge as a winner in the AI Revolution.”
Ives added that the executive order removes questions around future AI build outs and a “major overhang moving forward.”
“In this AI Arms Race vs. China, the U.S. cannot have these proposed red tape restrictions on the State level be a major impediment for Big Tech plays in a much looser China backdrop for AI with Beijing laser focused on giving China tech an advantage,” Ives added.
The order directs the U.S. attorney general to establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” with the responsibility of challenging state AI laws that are “inconsistent” with that policy. Additionally, it requires the secretary of commerce to consult other officials and “publish an evaluation of existing State AI laws that identifies onerous laws that conflict with the policy” within 90 days.
The strategy supports the tech industry that remains concerned about a patchwork of state rules hindering AI growth and challenges conflicting state laws through litigation and potential funding cuts.
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