America’s AI Action Plan: Progress, Priorities, and Next Steps
One year ago, the Trump Administration released its landmark America’s AI Action Plan, setting an ambitious agenda to strengthen U.S. AI leadership. The publication of the Action Plan kicked off government-wide efforts on key AI priorities including establishing a preemptive federal AI framework, expanding America’s energy and digital infrastructure, preparing workers for an AI-driven economy, strengthening cybersecurity, and promoting American AI technologies abroad. One year later, ITI is encouraged by the significant progress made on several priorities outlined in the Plan. Sustained U.S. leadership will require the Administration and Congress to build on the past year’s progress and address the important work that remains in several key areas.
1. Establish a Clear, Preemptive Federal AI Framework
America cannot lead in AI while companies face a growing patchwork of conflicting state requirements. The Trump Administration recognized the urgency of this challenge through Executive Order 14365, Ensuring a National Policy Framework for AI. However, the Administration must continue to work directly and urgently with Congress to enact a durable, preemptive federal framework that provides clear and consistent rules for the development, deployment, and use of AI across the country.
A myriad of states are adopting different definitions, risk classifications, disclosure mandates, and allocations of responsibility across the AI value chain. These inconsistencies increase compliance costs, make nationwide deployment more difficult, and create confusion for consumers and businesses alike without necessarily providing stronger protections.
The window for action is narrowing, and the Administration and Congress must align around a comprehensive federal approach that meaningfully preempts conflicting state requirements and enables companies of every size to innovate responsibly under one clear national framework.
2. Build the Energy Infrastructure Needed to Power AI
America needs reliable, resilient energy infrastructure to compete in the 21st century and maintain its global AI leadership. The AI Action Plan recommended optimizing existing grid resources as much as possible, interconnecting new energy generation sources, and streamlining permitting processes. As highlighted in ITI’s recommendations, the Administration should prioritize working with Congress to pass comprehensive permitting reform legislation, scale up resources for the Department of Energy to unlock the deployment of advanced transmission technologies, and other innovative solutions to increase grid utilization.
Further, the Administration’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge has also demonstrated leadership to ensure that AI infrastructure development does not burden residential ratepayers.
3. Prepare America’s Workforce for an AI-Driven Economy
America’s AI leadership depends on a workforce that is ready to use, develop, and adapt to new technologies. We’re encouraged that the Trump Administration has signaled workforce readiness is a top priority of its AI agenda—but more work remains. The Administration and Congress should build on the government’s initial AI workforce initiatives by developing a coordinated, long-term strategy to support America’s workforce through the AI transition.
Strong policy starts with strong data. Policymakers need better, timelier data on how AI is reshaping jobs, skills, and labor markets — a goal reflected in the Action Plan’s proposed AI Workforce Research Hub. Those insights should guide efforts to expand AI education, modernize workforce and career and technical education programs, and support employer-led reskilling and upskilling.
The White House and the Department of Labor have launched several promising initiatives, including the Pledge to America’s Youth: Investing in AI Education, the AI Literacy Framework, AI in Registered Apprenticeship Innovation Portal, and Make America AI-Ready course. As ITI outlines in itsPrinciples for a Responsible Workforce Transition in an AI Era, these initiatives should support students and workers at every stage of the talent pipeline and government and industry must work together to equip students and workers with the skills needed to harness AI, drive innovation, and ensure the benefits of growth are broadly shared.
4. Strengthen Cyber Resilience through Voluntary Collaboration
AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, and the Administration should build on the AI Action Plan by reinforcing a collaborative, risk-based approach to security.
As the Trump Administration continues developing policies to bolster cyber resilience and combat emerging threats, ITI urges the Administration to preserve the voluntary nature of model evaluation consistently across industry, draw on the expertise of agencies and institutions like the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation, continue leveraging existing voluntary vulnerability disclosure and coordination mechanisms as envisioned in the AI Action Plan, and maintain strong coordination and consultation between government and industry.
ITI supports the Trump Administration’s continued work to strengthen cyber resilience, including through the recent publication of Executive Order 14409 on “Promoting Advanced AI Innovation and Security” and launch of the Gold Eagle initiative, which is an important step toward operationalizing the AI cybersecurity clearinghouse established by the executive order.
5. Bring the American AI Technology Stack to Global Markets
To promote U.S. economic security effectively and enhance U.S. competitiveness in global markets, the U.S. must continue working with allies to protect the most sensitive technologies. The American AI Exports Program, established through the AI Action Plan, offers a unique opportunity to reinforce U.S. companies as the partners of choice when it comes to developing and deploying AI. ITI is encouraged by the concrete progress made over the past several months to stand up the Program, including the substantial number of applications for the “pre-set” consortia. The Administration should now move quickly to translate that momentum into genuine commercial opportunities for industry. ITI also calls on the Administration to continue its work on addressing market access barriers that hinder the ability of U.S. companies to compete abroad.