Euronews looks back at the first measures adopted by the American president and their future consequences for the tech sector.
The first week of Donald Trump’s new term as president of the United States ended with the signing of a series of executive orders aimed at promoting science and technology.
The president prioritized a $500 billion (€476 billion) deal for investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, the formation of a digital assets advisory council and postponed banning TikTok in its first announcements.
Overview.
Cancellation of measures taken by Joe Biden on AI
President Trump’s most recent action is an executive order that revokes some Biden-era policies that the administration says “act as barriers to American innovation in AI.”
The executive order signed on January 23 gives senior Trump administration officials six months to formulate an AI action plan that will allow the country to develop systems “free from ideological prejudices or elaborate social agendas.”
Donald Trump is also giving his administration time to review all policies implemented under Mr. Biden’s previous executive order and to “suspend, revise or cancel” those that do not match the president’s vision for AI.
A European technology diplomat previously told euronews that revoking Mr Biden’s executive order was one of the only promises Mr Trump made about AI during his election campaign.
Experts also said the US AI Safety Institute, a body created under Joe Biden’s previous executive order to study the safe implementation of AI systems, could be threatened with closure.
A committee responsible for establishing national initiatives
Trump also created the Presidential Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a council of 24 experts that will help the administration “charting the path forward for American leadership in science and technology.”
This committee is not new: it works with each new American administration on these issues, but the new president’s committee will “recenter” science and technology policy to prioritize “results-oriented excellence and merit-based achievement”, according to the White House.
The council will launch national initiatives and guide research on AI and quantum energy, autonomous driving systems, drones and biotechnology.
One member of that committee is David Sacks, a former Paypal executive who became Trump’s so-called “czar” for AI and crypto.
In December, the billionaire wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that David Sacks’ mandate will be to guide policy on AI, crypto, “safeguarding freedom of expression online” and the distance of the United States from “Big Tech bias and censorship.”
$500 billion for AI infrastructure
President Trump also proposed a joint venture with up to $500 billion (€476 billion) invested in AI.
According to the White House, Stargate, the new partnership between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank, will begin building the data centers and power generation in Texas needed to support the development of evolving AI.
ADVERTISEMENTAn initial investment of $100 billion (95 billion euros) will be made, but the project could reach five times that amount, according to the Associated Press.
“This is a significant amount of money and high quality people,” Mr. Trump said, adding that it was a “resounding statement of confidence in America’s potential” under his new administration.”
Other partners expected include Microsoft, investor MGX, chipmakers Arm and NVIDIA.
According to the Associated Press, initial plans for Stargate date back to the Biden administration.
ADVERTISEMENTThe technological media The Information first reported on the project in March 2024. OpenAI has long relied on Microsoft’s data centers to build its AI systems, but the company has increasingly expressed interest in building its own data centers.
Trump bans digital US dollar
This week, Mr. Trump also issued an executive order allowing citizens and businesses to “open public blockchain networks without being persecuted”.
The decree also commits to developing “legal and legitimate stable currencies backed by the dollar”with the aim of protecting the “sovereignty” of the American dollar.
The decree also bans central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as a digital form of the US dollar controlled by the country’s central bank could “threaten the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States”according to the decree.
ADVERTISEMENTMr. Trump is also establishing an advisory committee on digital asset markets, chaired by Mr. Sacks, which, within six months, will develop a regulatory framework for the “issuance and operation” of digital assets.
Their recommendations will focus on how the United States could create and manage a national stockpile of cryptocurrencies that could be created from all cryptocurrencies seized by the government, a promise Mr. Trump made during his campaign electoral.
Throughout his re-election campaign, the tenant of the Oval Office pledged to make the United States the “cryptography capital of the world”.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump have since launched their cryptocurrency memes, which skyrocketed in value during their first week in office. A business which has reopened the debate on the conflicts of interest between the new president and his businesses.
ADVERTISEMENTTikTok extension
One of Mr. Trump’s first actions as president was to extend the operation of the popular entertainment app TikTok by 75 days, so that its Chinese owner ByteDance could find an American buyer.
L’application ban was approved by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court, leading to a temporary shutdown of the short-video social media app on January 19.
The app has since been temporarily reinstated for US users, but it is still not available on the Google and Apple app stores.
Despite ByteDance’s refusal to sell, several buyers have come forward in recent days, including a consortium including YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr Beast, and “The People’s Bid”, overseen by billionaire Frank McCourt.
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