US President Donald Trump has ordered a national plan to “sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance” within six months, just days after announcing an $800 billion investment in the technology.
The new American administration is going all in on AI and shedding regulatory guardrails as Australia takes a slower approach and the Albanese government fends off calls for more industry support.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday said Australia continues to seek a balance between the risk and opportunity of AI and that investors will be pulled to local advantages like cheap renewable energy.

President Trump signed an executive order, Removing Barriers to American Leadership In Artificial Intelligence, in Washington on Thursday, to promote systems “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas”.
“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 order says.
The order includes a request for an action plan to implement the policy within 180 days and a review of the Biden administration’s work on managing the safety and security risks of AI.
President Trump has already revoked his predecessor’s 2023 order that had placed safety obligations on the developers of artificial intelligence systems.
Earlier in the week he also announced an $800 billion (US$500 billion) investment in an AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle. President Trump called it “the largest AI infrastructure project by far in history” and said it would help keep “the future of technology” in the US.
The shedding of guardrails, hard deadlines and massive investment commitment in the US – notwithstanding some doubts about how much will actually be spent – comes in contrast to Australia, where a slower policy approach has focused on safety and responsible uptake.
“… We can take advantage of the opportunities that will arise from it, whilst understanding some of the risks that are there as well from artificial intelligence,” Mr Albanese told InnovationAus.com on Friday in response to the US push on the technology.
“When it comes to our capacity to engage in the new economy, which includes AI and new technologies, we will need more energy, which is why Australia has potentially [an advantage].”
The Morrison government pledged early support for AI in 2021, but struggled to get money out the door. The Albanese government has not added much more industry support and has taken almost two years to develop regulatory options for the technology, which are still being finalised.
Industry minister Ed Husic in December announced the development of a National AI Capability Plan to better capture the economic and productivity benefits of the technology in Australia.
The Australian action plan – under consideration by government since last April at least — is due to be complete by the end of 2025, while President Trump has requested his by July.
Australia’s AI industry has been critical of a lack of government investment compared to other nations.
New industry funding was absent in the last Budget, with the government instead directing funding to a reshaped National AI Centre at a time when other nations were ramping up investment.
Mr Husic has previously defended the government record for AI funding, directing companies developing AI to the $1 billion carve-out for enabling capability in the National Reconstruction Fund. His office did not respond when contacted on Friday.
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