Trump's Artificial Intelligence Strategy: Aspirations Without Teeth

On Feb. 11, the White House released an executive order on "Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence" (AI)--the latest attempt to develop a national strategy for AI. The order envisions the United States taking significant steps to increase research and development efforts while reforming its executive agencies to better compete with the Chinese government's investments in AI development through its Made in China 2025 plan. Although the order is full of promising language and constructive suggestions for executive agencies, it is unlikely to have much of a long-term effect without further support from Congress. The executive order has three basic prongs. First, it charges executive agencies to "prioritize AI" across several dimensions.