CED Newsletters & Policy Alerts

Action: Executive Order “Initial Recession of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” 

What it does: The Executive Order rescinding many Orders of the Biden Administration rescinded Executive Order 14110 of October 30, 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence). That Order contained high-level principles for advancement and governance of AI, provisions for developers to share information about model safety with the government, directives for agencies to study potential risks associated with AI, and provisions to protect workers and consumers.  

Key Insights 

• Repeal of the Order had been signaled during the transition over concerns it stifles innovation. It is unclear whether the new Administration is preparing a new Order on AI. 

• In practice, much of the work by Federal agencies by the old Order (including development of safety principles) had been completed; other work remains in progress. Documents such as the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights are likely no longer operative.  

• Notably, the new Order did not repeal an Executive Order from the Biden Administration intended to ease the construction of data centers and clean energy facilities on Federal land.  

• It is also unclear whether the US AI Safety Institute will continue; it was established separately from (but on the same day as) the Biden Executive Order and has a separate legal foundation. 

• The President also announced a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle with an initial investment of $100 billion to build computing infrastructure to power next-generation AI.