Don’t be fooled. The US is regulating AI – just not the way you think

<p>Beneath the free-market rhetoric, Washington actually intervenes to control the building blocks of AI systems</p><p>At first glance, today’s artificial intelligence policy landscape suggests a strategic retreat from regulation. As of late, AI leaders such as the US have doubled down on this messaging. JD Vance champions AI policy with a “<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-vice-president-the-artificial-intelligence-action-summit-paris-france">deregulatory flavor</a>”. Congress <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-senate-strikes-ai-regulation-ban-trump-megabill-2025-07-01/">considered a 10-year ban</a> on state AI legislation. On cue, the Trump administration’s “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Americas-AI-Action-Plan.pdf">AI action plan</a>” warns against smothering the technology “in bureaucracy at this early stage”.</p><p>But the deregulatory narrative is a critical misconception. Though the US federal government takes a hands-off approach to AI applications such as chatbots and image generators, it is heavily involved in the building blocks of AI. For example, both the Trump and the Biden administrations have been hands-on when it comes to AI chips – a crucial component of powerful AI systems. Biden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/tech/china-us-biden-chips-ai-curbs-hnk-intl">restricted chip access</a> to competing nations such as China as a matter of national security. The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/us/politics/ai-us-abu-dhabi.html">sought deals</a> with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-approves-some-nvidia-uae-sales-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-10-09/">countries such as the UAE</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/23/us-a