"It’ll be huge”: The true cost of Trump’s AI revolution

Donald Trump has unveiled a sweeping new vision for America’s artificial intelligence sector, signing a trio of executive orders aimed at accelerating AI development, deregulating the industry, and stamping out what he called “woke” influences in AI models. 

At the heart of this plan is “Winning the AI Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, a 28-page strategy document designed to remove regulatory barriers, slash environmental protections, fast-track datacentre construction, and boost the export of US-developed AI models. Backed by Silicon Valley, the plan signals an aggressive bid to cement the United States as the world’s leading AI powerhouse. 

What is changing?  

The new strategy introduces several sweeping changes. It requires any AI company receiving federal funding to ensure its models are “politically neutral,” a subjective standard that could give the administration significant influence over how developers design and train their systems. At the same time, environmental safeguards and planning requirements will be loosened to accelerate the construction of the energy-intensive datacentres needed to power generative AI, raising concerns about their local impact.  

Federal agencies are also instructed to reduce oversight of AI across key sectors such as healthcare, finance, and research, making it easier for these technologies to scale rapidly with fewer regulatory barriers. Finally, the plan eases restrictions on exporting AI technologies, aiming to embed US-made AI into the global economy and secure an advantage over competitors such as China. 

Why does it matter?  

The consequences of Trump’s AI plan could be deeply felt at both the national and community level. Datacentres, which require vast amounts of water and electricity, will put additional strain on local grids and contribute to pollution. Loosening environmental protections may fast-track their construction, but it comes at the cost of increased emissions, noise, and water usage, which is particularly concerning for rural and suburban areas where these facilities are often built.  

The plan further threatens to erode local control by withholding federal funding from states that enforce stricter AI regulations, undermining state and community efforts to ensure responsible development. 

Meanwhile, although the strategy briefly mentions retraining workers displaced by AI, it offers no clear funding mechanism or support structure. Communities reliant on at-risk industries could therefore be left behind.  

Perhaps most troublingly, the requirement for “politically neutral” AI could reshape how these tools handle complex topics, sidelining conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, issues that many communities consider vital. Historically, so-called “neutrality” has often erased the experiences of marginalised groups. By explicitly discouraging AI models from incorporating DEI principles, the plan risks creating systems that fail to reflect the realities of minority communities or, worse, reinforce harmful stereotypes. 

What does this mean?  

Trump’s AI action plan sets the stage for rapid innovation and an aggressive bid for global dominance in artificial intelligence, but it comes with extreme trade-offs. By prioritising speed and deregulation, the strategy risks sidelining community concerns, eroding environmental safeguards, and deepening inequalities, particularly for minority groups who could be misrepresented or ignored by so-called “neutral” AI systems.  

While Silicon Valley may celebrate the removal of barriers, the question remains whether these changes will truly benefit the broader public or simply concentrate power and profit in the hands of a few, as it often does. As the US races ahead in AI, the voices of those most affected, from rural communities hosting datacentres to marginalised groups impacted by biased algorithms, cannot afford to be left behind.