Designed to ensure U.S. supremacy in AI innovation, the Trump Administration’s AI Action Plan emphasizes eliminating regulatory barriers to AI development and use, while accelerating the construction of data centers and the expansion of energy infrastructure to support them.
Why it matters: Attempting to avoid overly prescriptive guidelines, like the EU developed, HRPA advocated to the Biden administration that the U.S. government apply existing workplace laws to the AI context when creating federal guardrails. By prioritizing victory in the AI race against China, however, the Trump Administration has turned its focus away from establishing guardrails, leaving employers to navigate AI governance and implementation without clear federal guidance and potentially shifting regulation to the states.
The AI Action Plan was announced amid reports of AI lobbying expenditures and concerns about existing safety protocols.
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Several news outlets this week highlighted a surge in AI industry lobbying, citing financial disclosure analyses showing that over 500 organizations lobbied the Administration and Congress in the first half of 2025 on AI issues.
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On Thursday, risk management nonprofit Safer AI released a report giving major AI companies low marks for identifying and addressing AI risks. After evaluating 65 safety criteria and publicly available information, the group determined that no company scored over 35 out of 100%.
Recognition of workforce implications: The Action Plan explicitly recognizes AI’s effect on the workforce and establishes an AI Workforce Research Hub within the Department of Labor to plan for a range of potential AI impacts.
Where does this leave us? The Action Plan identifies the Administration’s priorities but will require implementation by federal agencies and action from Congress.
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While the Plan seeks to limit federal AI funding to states with strict AI regulation, earlier Congressional efforts to invoke a 10-year pause on state AI regulation failed.
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Additional elements of the EU’s AI Act, including provisions on governance, confidentiality and penalties, go into effect on August 2 over CEO objections.
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Third Way, a moderate left think tank, issued its own AI agenda in response to the Trump Administration plan, laying out a roadmap for a future Democratic Administration that could dramatically pivot the national approach back to a more prescriptive focus.
The bottom line: With the U.S. fixated on winning the global AI race, a national AI governance model remains out of reach. CHROs must take the lead in establishing internal AI guardrails while guiding their workforces through the AI-driven transition.
