US President Donald Trump used his first days in office to issue a blizzard of executive orders pertaining to issues including cryptocurrency, TikTok, EVs and artificial intelligence. Analysts see more money shifting to the private side of the sector now that Elon Musk has become a Trump confidant β with enough new funds sloshing in to lift all boats rather than just the ones with SpaceX painted on the side. We can wait another year, or we can get started now.
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The Biden order set safety standards for the use of artificial intelligence across the federal Government. This move is not as radical as it might seem, given Biden never used his AI safety order hand-brake to slow the release of any new artificial intelligence product, or force transparency.
Ironically, AI is perhaps the only area where Musk is pro-regulation. Cynics have seen Musk being in favour of an AI pause because his own firm, xAI, trails OpenAI and others, even if they see validity in his arguments about risk. But Trump is helping to snip red tape out of the way. But hours later, Trump confidant Musk cast doubt on the initiative in late-night posts to X. I have that on good authority. Altman and Musk were the founding co-chairman of OpenAI in , but fell out after Musk β who now has his own AI firm β wanted it to remain a non-profit foundation.
Bannon vowed to have Musk removed by inauguration day. But for the tech industry, and others with talent shortages in specialised areas, it was a sensible, pragmatic outcome. Trump also signed an executive order challenging an international agreement the Biden administration had negotiated with countries including New Zealand β to try to stop large multinational corporations from booking profits in countries with low taxes.
