October 27, 2025
This week in AI federal policy
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This week decoded
This week in AI federal policy, as the government shutdown enters week five, Congress continues its focus on deep fakes, child safety, national security, and global competitiveness.
The Trump Administration announced the launch of the American AI Exports Program, a whole-of-government effort to export U.S.-made AI infrastructure, hardware, and software. The Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration will lead the program; Commerce published a Request for Information to help inform implementation.
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Congress
Hearings
Last week
No relevant hearings were scheduled last week.
This week
No relevant hearings are scheduled this week.
Legislation
Sens. John Kennedy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Enhancing Necessary Federal Offenses Regarding Child Exploitation (ENFORCE) Act to subject child predators who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to create or distribute Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) to the same laws and penalties as criminals who create or distribute other forms of CSAM. (Text)
Reps. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) and Troy Downing (R-MT) introduced the Artificial Intelligence Wisdom for Innovative Small Enterprises (AI–WISE) Act to amend the Small Business Act to help small business concerns critically evaluate artificial intelligence tools. (Text)
Reps. Mark Alford (R-MO) and Hillary Scholten (D-MI) introduced the AI for Mainstreet Act to amend the Small Business Act to require small business development centers to assist small business concerns with the use of artificial intelligence. (Text)
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation advanced the Global Investment in American Jobs Act, sponsored by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Gary Peters (D-MI), to direct the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a government-wide review of ways to increase America’s global competitiveness in attracting foreign direct investment and report the findings to Congress. (Text)
Correspondence
Sens. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson requesting the FTC address the full range of risks and potential harms that artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots pose to children and teenagers. (Letter)
Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and August Pfluger (R-TX) sent a letter to Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg requesting information regarding the company’s role in profiting from and monitoring fraudulent artificial intelligence (AI) generated deepfake political advertisements on Facebook. (Letter)
Reps. Bill Foster (D-IL), Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) sent letters to the CEOs of Meta, YouTube, Reddit, and X requesting information on how they are addressing threats from foreign influence operations and escalating political violence in the United States. (Letter)
Publications, Events, and Announcements
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released responses from U.S. Southern District of Mississippi Judge Henry T. Wingate, U.S. District of New Jersey Judge Julien Xavier Neals, and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AO) Director Robert Conrad regarding use of generative artificial intelligence to draft factually inaccurate court orders. (Press release)
Trump Administration
White House
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memo entitled Streamlining the Review of Deregulatory Actions to provide guidance to agencies on streamlining the deregulation of prior government regulations and to establish new timelines and guidelines for review of deregulation efforts by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The memo details benefits of deregulation, including, “The collective value of a group of deregulatory actions and the synergies between deregulation across multiple areas of the law and across the entire web of ensuing causal effects as they spread throughout the national economy may be greater than the sum of its parts. For instance, deregulating the energy sector will not simply make driving cars and use of electricity to power our homes less costly, it also benefits America’s tech sector, increasing AI innovation and improving the development of new cryptocurrency assets — benefits that in turn would further profit consumers in a virtuous cycle.” (Memo)
Cross-Agency
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the Departments of Commerce and State, announced the launch of the American AI Exports Program, a whole-of-government effort to export U.S.-made AI infrastructure, hardware, and software solutions. The program will be implemented by the International Trade Administration (ITA) within the Department of Commerce. To facilitate connections between U.S. companies and trusted foreign buyers, the Department of Commerce will launch a new website, AIexports.gov, and establish an integrated American AI export team. (EXIM press release)(ITA press release)
Department of Commerce
Commerce published a Request for Information to implement the American AI Exports Program. (RFI)
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is scheduled to hold a meeting of the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology for an update on major programs and initiatives at NIST, changes within the organization and the budget on October 28, 2025.
Health and Human Services Department
The Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting of the Digital Health Advisory Committee to discuss and make recommendations on generative AI-enabled digital mental health medical devices on November 6, 2025.
Noteworthy Quotes and Events
ADMINISTRATION
White House
AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks posted “China is exporting Huawei chips + DeepSeek models to the Global South. If we don’t make it just as easy to export the American AI stack, we will forfeit this technology race in large parts of the world.”
Sacks also posted a response to Reid Hoffman, saying, “I read your post. It claims that the controversy surrounding Anthropic is about AI safety research. This is not true; in fact, it’s misdirection. The real issue is not research but rather Anthropic’s agenda to backdoor Woke AI and other AI regulations through Blue states like California. This is not surprising since Anthropic hired the Biden AI team, which gave us Biden’s Woke AI executive order and the Biden Diffusion Rule. Since President Trump rescinded these biased and burdensome regulations, Anthropic has shifted its efforts to the state level. It has also fashioned itself into a Resistance organization, opposing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and export policy. It’s likely not a coincidence that the biggest Democrat mega-donors in tech — namely you, Reed Hastings and Dustin Moskovitz — are closely associated with this company. As I’ve said before, it’s a free country. Anthropic is welcome to oppose the administration as much as it wants. But let’s not pretend this is about AI safety research.”
Sacks also posted “GDP growth is currently an outstanding 3.9%, and AI is 40% of that. It’s easy for politicians to posture and grandstand by beating up on tech. But the real question is whether they want 4% growth rates or 2% growth rates.”
Department of Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent posted “We are only in the third inning of a new economic boom driven by President Trump’s pro-growth policies and innovation in technology and AI. We are about to see major gains in investment, productivity, and job growth across America.”
CONGRESS
On the Ben Shapiro Show, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-) said, “[F]unding the government the old-fashioned way through the appropriations process… There are things like permitting reform… [and] AI, which has become a very, very big issue in our lives… [W]e’ve got to do a farm bill [and] a highway transportation bill. There’s a lot of work for Congress to do that has been put on… the back burner while the government’s been shut down…” (Press release)
At CNBC’s 2025 AI Summit, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said, “One of the things we’ve heard from so many people involved in this is that you have to have an online consumer privacy protection bill so that people have the ability to set those firewalls and protect the virtual you, as I call it…once an LLM scoops [your data and information], then they are using that to train that model.” She also said, “We have to have a way to protect our information in the virtual spaces just as we do in the physical space.” She shared that regulations would focus on “end-use utilizations and legislate that framework in that manner and not focus on a given delivery system or a given technology.” (Press release)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) posted “Apple begins shipping American-made AI servers from Texas”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) posted “2 federal judges sent me letters admitting their staff used AI to draft error ridden court orders Theyre now working 2ensure it doesnt happen again That’s a step fwd but we need to make sure this problem doesnt resurface in ANY federal court My oversight will continue”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) posted “It was great to sit down with DavidSacks to discuss how we ensure America beats China in the AI race while protecting kids, creators, and conservatives online. Congress must get its act together and pass bills like my NO FAKES Act and KOSA to set clear federal standards.”
Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ) posted “Slapping a $100k fee on H-1B visas will give China and our competitors a leg up in the AI race. Democrats and Republicans agree: we need the White House to work with Congress to modernize the H-1B program so we can attract the best and brightest to America.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) posted “I don’t often agree with Elon Musk, but I fear that he may be right when he says, “AI and robots will replace all jobs.” So what happens to workers who have no jobs and no income? AI & robotics must benefit all of humanity, not just billionaires.”
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) posted “We won’t realize AI’s promising potential to improve human life, health, and prosperity if we don’t account for the risks. Developers and policymakers must consider the potential danger of artificial superintelligence raised by these leading thinkers: https://superintelligence-statement.org”
Sen. Tina Smith (D-OR) posted “The only people doing well right now seem to be AI executives, crypto bros and the Trump family.”
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) posted “China has 35 naval shipyards. The U.S. has just four. But the problem goes deeper than these numbers. A future conflict in the Indo-Pacific will hinge on drone warfare, hypersonics, AI, and information—not just who can build the most ships.”
Sen. John Husted (R-OH) posted “AI is going to be the dominant technology of the future, and American students need to know how to use it. I wrote the RAISE Act to help schools teach kids how to use AI responsibly and effectively.”
What I’m Reading This Week
Republicans and Democrats Can’t Agree on Anything — Except the AI Threat, James Lynch, National Review.
The Gloves are Off on AI Policy, Diego Areas Munhoz and Ben Brody, Punchbowl News.