The LSE Phelan US Centre’s AI Essay Competition asked LSE Master’s students to address the question, “ Is AI a threat or an opportunity for the US? ” In this runner-up essay, Francesca Nicolodiwrites that the new Trump administration has pushed for greater private development of AI infrastructure by tech monopolies, but that many of these companies are also responsible for online misinformation. The US government is becoming “siliconized”, removing AI regulation ostensibly to promote private sector innovation, against a backdrop of a US public which believes in greater regulation of AI.
On January 10th, 2025, China shocked the world with the release of its new AI model, developed at a much lower cost than its US competitors and without the use of cutting-edge chips. Hence, the new Trump administration, with the help of Silicon Valley leaders, is now taking the necessary measures to strengthen US AI leadership worldwide, but Americans aren’t too happy about it. The tech-driven government’s race to outpace China is worsening digital safety and AI ethics, which is fuelling the potential rise of an authoritarian technocracy. The majority of US citizens don’t trust their billionaires and are sceptical of Elon Musk’s political agenda, which they believe might benefit his interests over those of Americans.
The state’s support to billionaires’ new AI investments in exchange for public control
For the next four years, Big Tech companies are planning to skyrocket their AI investment upon Trump’s inauguration (see Figure 1). One day after returning to the White House, Trump declared a $500 billion project to build new AI infrastructures with OpenAI and SoftBank. Indeed, the president’s orders have given new liberties for private digital innovations to expand as long as they remain politically aligned with the state.
Figure 1 – Infrastructure companies have exponentially increased their AI investment spending.
Tech monopolies are siding with the state in its race to beat Chinese AI in exchange for greater economic and political power. Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta ended its third-party fact-checking program and removed content moderation around politics a few weeks before the presidential inauguration. Consequently, users decided to look for alternatives to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and even Meta’s lawyer couldn’t find valid reasons to keep defending the tech giant after seeing it enter its partisan political era.
In 2023, half of the population thought that the federal government was responsible for preventing AI-general misinformation while the other half thought companies were mainly in charge of it. However, schoolteachers are doing the most to raise awareness of the dangers of online misinformation, while CBS News surrendered to Trump’s requests over settling a lawsuit undermining the 1st Amendment’s protections. In January, Jeff Bezos decided to prioritise commercial interests over The Washington Post’s democratic principles, provoking a outrage among his previous and current staff, while promoting the media’s AI-generated tool.
The state is becoming “siliconized” without Americans’ approval
As of now, the state, with the influence of Elon Musk, is looking to grow its AI competitiveness, although most citizens might be against AI for benefiting the ultrarich before the average American, as demonstrated by Figure 2. In fact, three days after its inauguration, President Trump revoked President Biden’s executive order protecting workers and consumers from AI harmful activities, which the new administration testified “unnecessarily burdensome requirements do not hamper private sector AI innovation.”
Figure 2 – Americans don’t see AI benefiting the majority
Trump’s position on deregulatory policies will persist after appointing a pro-industry entrepreneur and venture capitalist to oversee AI regulations, while Elon Musk cuts down on civil servants, and employs young Musk fans in the federal government to run AI detectors for budget cuts. Since then, one-third of civil service employees in the United States Digital Service (now DOGE) have chosen to resign after concluding that the new administration isn’t looking to serve the American people.
There are actions taken to preserve AI state regulations and grow online AI-free interactions
While the White House is currently going through a ‘technicization’, nearly three-quarters of Americans believe in AI government regulations, as YouGov outlined in its research in 2023 (Figure 3). The majority doesn’t believe private corporations’ businesses would benefit the majority, especially after experts predicted that the freedom of Americans like the rest of the world might already be subjugated to tech giants, such as Yanis Varoufakis in Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism.
Figure 3 – Citizens trust the state to make AI use ethical and safe
Nonetheless, Americans are divided when asked if the US is facing a constitutional crisis, as multiple federal judges are legally challenging the major executive actions Trump took upon his inauguration, many of which are still to be taken to court, such as the removal of Biden’s artificial intelligence regulations. People in the United States are still looking to protect and defend their constitutional rights. Many are convinced that AI cannot develop moral judgements, and for that, they wouldn’t allow tech to take on executive roles.
Outside of Washington, counties and cities are now working with unions to defend workers’ concerns on unfair use of AI by their companies, which is mitigating the lack of protection from Trump’s mandate. More companies are drifting away from AI, evaluating it as a risk than an added value after seeing that only one-third of companies profited from AI adoption. Additionally, Meta users’ search for alternative platforms sparked old media companies’ interest in developing a social media without AI-generated content but rather AI that enhances users’ agency.