Public comments to White House on AI policy touch on copyright, tariffs

Summary

Individuals, industry groups, and local governments submitted over 10,000 comments to the White House about its work-in-progress national AI policy, also known as the AI Action Plan. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on Thursday published the text of the submissions in a PDF spanning 18,480 pages. The comments, which touch on topics ranging from copyright to the environmental harms of AI data centers, come as President Donald Trump and allies rejigger the U.S. government’s AI priorities. In January, President Trump repealed former President Joe Biden’s AI Executive Order, which had instructed the National Institute of Standards and Technology to author guidance that helps companies identify — and correct for — flaws in models, including biases. Critics allied with Trump argued that the order’s reporting requirements were onerous and effectively forced companies to disclose their trade secrets. Shortly after revoking the AI Executive Order, Trump signed an order directing federal agencies to promote the development of AI “free from ideological bias” that promotes “human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” Importantly, Trump’s order made no mention of combating AI discrimination, which was a key tenet of Biden’s initiative. submitted to the White House make clear what’s at stake in the AI race. A number of commenters asserted that AI is exploitative, in a word, trained on the works of creatives who aren’t compensated for their involuntary contributions, and petitioned the Trump administration to strengthen copyright regulation. On the opposing side, commenters such as VC firm Andreessen Horowitz accused rightsholders of putting up roadblocks to AI development. Several AI companies, including Google and OpenAI, have also pushed for friendlier rules around AI training in earlier comments on the AI Action Plan. Petitions from organizations including Americans for Prosperity, The Future of Life Institute, and the Am...