Donald Trump’s first week has been thunderous. The number of “executive orders” has been enormous in all areas. Observers have all been like cats with Donald Trump manipulating the little red laser at will to lead them where he wanted.
The most marked break concerns the dynamics of American power. One of the first major announcements concerned the $500 billion Stargate project. Its objective is to make the United States the heart of AI by defining the technological standard, the one that will condition its exploitation in other countries. It is a way to have a considerable income that will feed the United States while strengthening its power.
To facilitate the implementation of such a plan, Donald Trump removed a decree from Joe Biden on certain constraints related to the development of AI, then on January 23 he published a decree whose aim is to examine previous measures taken by Joe Biden and likely to be obstacles to American innovation in artificial intelligence.
This question of AI is now major in the governance of States. In the American case, there can be confusion. Tech bosses are very present and have significant power since the political power removes the constraints likely to curb their innovations. AI now has impacts in all areas and not just economic ones. Drones, very present in all military theaters, are an illustration of this overflow. This military domain is traditionally reserved for political power but we can see here the risk of confusion.
The other aspect to highlight is the desire to provide resources to this sector of activity. It must be powerful to establish American domination. Therefore, decisions will not be made without the consent of the tech bosses. This also means that discussions about dismantling GAFAM are no longer relevant. AI is more than ever a source of considerable power. But is power shared?
The circle surrounding Vladimir Putin grew rich and powerful by exploiting raw materials. For Donald Trump, the resource is Tech and the AI associated with it.
The contrast with China, another very powerful country in AI, is astonishing. When Jack Ma, head of Alibaba, became too powerful, he was pushed aside by President Xi. The Chinese political power wants to maintain control over the Tech sector and does not want to accept a state within a state.
These choices are not neutral in terms of who decides, who guides government policy, but also who allocates resources to develop this or that sector of Tech.
The risk is a common trajectory between Trump and Tech until the moment when power is no longer shared.