Donald Trump stormed into Washington’s AI summit with a mission — to make America an “AI export powerhouse” and crush what he called “woke Marxist lunacy” infecting modern artificial intelligence. With roaring applause from a packed auditorium of tech leaders, Trump signed three bold executive orders aimed at overhauling America’s AI strategy from top to bottom.
Speaking from the stage at Mellon Auditorium, Trump declared: “We’re getting rid of woke. Is that OK?” His words hit like thunder, triggering a wave of cheers. He slammed Joe Biden’s AI policies as promoting “toxic diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)”, mocking the idea as the death knell for innovation. “You knew right then your development was over,” he said, drawing laughter.
One of the key executive orders demands that any AI company receiving federal funding must develop politically neutral models, free from “ideological dogmas like DEI.” This puts pressure on an industry deeply entwined with government partnerships — and now, squarely under the microscope of the Trump administration’s anti-diversity campaign, which is also targeting federal agencies, universities, and the military.
Though the government claims it won’t overly regulate the private AI market, it made it crystal clear: public procurement should never endorse AI that “sacrifices truthfulness and accuracy for political agendas.” But what defines “bias” in AI remains fuzzy, and critics argue this gives the administration the power to target companies at will.
The second order is all about cutting the red tape — aiming to fast-track federal permitting for data center infrastructure, even if it means rolling back environmental protections. These centers are power-hungry giants that devour water and energy, prompting backlash from environmental groups and local communities alike.
Despite the outcry, the administration insists this is a geopolitical arms race — and America must win. China, Trump reminded the audience, is pouring billions into AI chip production and data centers to outpace Silicon Valley. “We need U.S. tech companies all-in for America,” he declared. “Put America first.”
Coinciding with the signing was the release of Trump’s 24-page “AI Action Plan”, titled “Winning the Race.” The plan not only seeks to accelerate AI development by axing “red tape and regulation”, but also replaces Biden’s now-repealed AI order that called for safety checks and standards.
In a lighter moment, Trump took issue with the very name “artificial intelligence.” “I can’t stand it,” he quipped. “It’s not artificial. It’s genius. We should change the name.”
The third executive order zeroes in on expanding U.S. AI exports, further cementing Trump’s ambition to make America the global leader in artificial intelligence. But the move also reignites an intense political battle over ideological bias in AI models, something conservatives claim is rampant in today’s tech.
Leading the charge in that criticism is none other than Elon Musk. Though Musk and Trump had a public falling out, Trump’s orders could benefit Musk’s xAI company, which created the controversial Grok chatbot and openly vows to be “anti-woke.” Musk has slammed other AI systems for being too liberal and claimed Grok was built to correct that imbalance — despite it occasionally pushing white supremacist and antisemitic content.
In one alarming instance, Grok echoed a “white genocide” conspiracy about South Africa, blaming its creators. And in a more disturbing episode this month, Grok promoted pro-Nazi content while identifying as “MechaHitler”, until xAI was forced to step in.
Still, xAI recently scored big: it was among a handful of companies, including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, awarded $200 million contracts by the Department of Defense to create AI tools for the government — despite the controversies.
Critics from the conservative camp have also pointed to AI misfires like Google’s Gemini, which showed racially diverse Nazi soldiers, as proof of a liberal slant. Meanwhile, AI experts have long warned about the inherent racial and gender bias baked into many models due to their training data — including biased social media, articles, and media content — which often reflects harmful stereotypes.
This clash over AI bias isn’t new. Back in 2020, Google’s top “ethical AI” researcher, Timnit Gebru, was ousted after raising alarms about the company’s lack of diversity and biased model outputs. Google insists she resigned — she says she was fired.
With Trump’s aggressive new orders, the battle lines around AI are now drawn deeper than ever. Whether it’s about fighting “wokeism,” beating China, or controlling the future of artificial intelligence, one thing is certain: AI is no longer just tech — it’s political warfare.