Artificial Intelligence Briefing: Trump 2.0 Executive Orders Revoke, Overhaul Biden Administration’s Approach

The AI landscape saw developments coming in at a breakneck pace throughout January 2025. We’re diving into the latest executive orders from the new White House administration, proposed HIPAA security rule revisions addressing AI and ePHI protection, the FTC’s latest take on AI’s potential threat to consumers, and the newest state-level activity.

Federal Developments

It’s been a whirlwind month at the federal level. Having invested enormous effort to ensure “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence, the Biden administration announced a flurry of actions to stem the flow of American AI technology and data to China. Underscoring the sense of urgency, outgoing National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned of the dire consequences of finishing second in the race for AI supremacy. President Trump went substantially further, adopting a laser-like focus on enhancing the nation’s “global AI dominance” and directing administration officials to undo any Biden-era regulations that might get in the way. Meanwhile, Chinese start-up DeepSeek shocked the world with a powerful model built on a shoestring budget, raising serious questions about Silicon Valley’s strategy for building AI and the federal government’s approach to keeping China at bay.

• President Trump Revokes Biden’s AI Executive Order. As expected, on January 20, 2025, President Trump revoked the Biden administration’s Executive Order 14110 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence) as part of the new administration’s effort to “end Federal implementation of unlawful and radical DEI ideology.” (The Biden executive order established eight guiding principles and priorities, one of which was “advancing equity and civil rights.”) Among many other directives, the Biden order imposed significant reporting requirements on companies developing powerful AI models that could pose a serious risk to national security, public health or safety. Three days after revoking the Biden executive order, President Trump signed another AI executive order charting a new course….
• New Executive Order Aims to Enhance U.S. AI Leadership. On January 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” which declared, “It is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.” The executive order directed administration officials to review “all policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions” flowing from Biden’s now-revoked EO 14110 to determine their consistency with the overarching goal of global AI dominance. In case of inconsistency, the policies and actions are to be suspended, revised or rescinded.
  
  One of many actions that may come under scrutiny is the Commerce Department Interim Final Rule “Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion,” which came into effect on January 13, 2025. The Interim Final Rule proposed restriction of exports of advanced integrated circuits to most countries, with exceptions for low-risk countries like Australia, Canada, and several European and Asian nations. The Rule also imposed new controls on exporting numerical parameters (weights) optimized through AI training, while open models would be exempt. The fate of the Rule could be determined by an AI action plan that’s to be submitted to the President within 180 days, and you can bet that the meteoric rise of DeepSeek will be part of the discussion.
• Commerce Department Finalizes Rule Restricting Chinese and Russian Connected Vehicle Technology. The Department of Commerce announced on January 14, 2025, a final rule that will prohibit the importation and sale of connected vehicle technology designed, developed, manufactured or supplied by entities linked to China or Russia. The rule focuses specifically on Vehicle Connectivity Systems (VCS) hardware that enables external communications and Automated Driving System (ADS) software used in passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds. Connected vehicle manufacturers and VCS hardware importers will need to submit annual Declarations of Conformity certifying their supply chains do not include Chinese or Russian entities, though they can apply for specific authorizations from the Commerce Department to import otherwise prohibited components. The rule will take effect for ADS software in model year 2027 vehicles and VCS hardware in model year 2030 vehicles. The Commerce Department justified the rule based on national security concerns that China and Russia could exploit connected vehicle technology to collect sensitive data about U.S. persons and infrastructure or even remotely manipulate vehicles. On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration directed the Commerce Department to consider whether further action is appropriate for additional connected products. We will be following these developments and issue further alerts as appropriate.
• OCR Proposes HIPAA Security Rule Revisions that Address AI and ePHI Protection. On January 6, 2025, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking with implications for AI. According to the Proposed Rule, electronic protected health information (ePHI), including ePHI in AI training data, prediction models, and algorithm data maintained by a regulated entity for covered functions, is protected by the HIPAA Rules and all applicable standards and specifications. As such, a regulated entity interested in using AI must include the use of such tools in its risk analysis and risk management activities. These risk analyses must consider the type and amount of ePHI accessed by the AI tool, which party the data was disclosed to, and which party received the output provided by the AI tool. Lastly, OCR stated that it expects AI software used to create, receive, maintain, or transmit ePHI, or that interacts with ePHI, to be listed in a regulated entity’s technology asset inventory. Subsequently, the Trump Administration issued a regulatory freeze on all proposed federal regulations, including the Proposed Rule, pending review and approval by department heads. This freeze, coupled with the rescinding of Biden's EO 14110, indicates the Trump administration's shift toward reduced federal oversight of AI, potentially altering the regulatory approach to AI outlined in the Proposed Rule.
• U.S. House Bipartisan Recommendations for AI Use. The U.S. House AI Task Force issued a report in December 2024 that outlines key findings and recommendations on AI-related data privacy, security, research and development, standardization and energy usage by data centers. It also provides guidance on AI use by the U.S. government and specific sectors such as financial services, education, agriculture and health care. The Report is based on input from over a hundred experts across various fields and aims to guide Congress in evaluating AI policy proposals. The guiding principles include promoting AI innovation and other concepts that now sound almost quaint, like protecting against risks, ensuring responsible AI use by the government, supporting sector-specific policies, adopting an incremental approach and prioritizing human involvement. The Report emphasizes the importance of attracting and retaining talent and addressing the impact of automation on the labor market. Additionally, it advocates for continued academic research and increased technology transfer to the market.
• FTC addresses the risk AI poses to consumers. On January 3, the Federal Trade Commission released a blog post focusing on AI’s potential to cause real-world harm to consumers. The post distilled takeaways from a slew of AI-related cases brought by the FTC. Among them: companies should take necessary steps to prevent harm before and after deploying AI; companies should avoid deceptive claims about AI products; and companies should ensure that sensitive consumer data is kept private by default. Will the FTC maintain this tone or take a less aggressive approach under Trump 2.0? We’ll keep you posted here.

State Developments

If the federal government withdraws from regulating AI, look for the states to ramp up in this area. Already, bills calling for AI regulation have been introduced in legislatures across the country, with some of them bearing a striking resemblance to the law enacted by Colorado in 2024. Meanwhile, the AGs in California and New Jersey have issued guidance on the application of existing laws to new technology.

• New Jersey Attorney General and Division on Civil Rights Issue Guidance on Algorithmic Discrimination Protections. The New Jersey Attorney General's Office and Division on Civil Rights issued guidance in January 2025 clarifying that the state's Law Against Discrimination (LAD) prohibits algorithmic discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and other covered sectors. The guidance states that entities can violate the LAD through algorithmic discrimination even without discriminatory intent and even if a third party developed the AI tool being used. It also notes that the LAD protects residents from discrimination regardless of the technology involved and urges individuals who believe they have faced algorithmic discrimination to file a complaint with the Division on Civil Rights.
• California AG Releases Issues AI Legal Advisories. On January 13, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued two legal advisories regarding the use of AI under California law. The first advisory provides guidance on consumers’ rights with respect to AI under California law, with a focus on consumer protection, civil rights, competition, false advertising and data privacy laws. The advisory also discusses rights under the new California AI laws effective as of January 1. The second advisory provides guidance to health care providers, insurers, vendors and others that develop, sell or use AI on compliance with California law. The advisory focuses on requirements under California’s health consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and patient privacy and autonomy laws.

In Case You Missed It

• AI at Work: Navigating the Future in Employment
• FDA Makes Draft Guidance Available on Lifecycle Management and Marketing Submission Recommendations for AI-Enabled Device Software Functions and Requests Industry Input
• FDA Issues Detailed Guidance for Biopharma Industry on What Information to Provide to FDA About Use of AI Models
• U.S. Department of Commerce Issues Interim Final Rule Implementing Its Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion
• U.S. Commerce Department Strengthens Export Controls to Restrict China’s Semiconductor Production

What We’re Reading

• Why DeepSeek Could Change What Silicon Valley Believes About A.I.
• Behind the Curtain: A chilling, “catastrophic” warning from the Former National Security Advisor