Technocrats awaiting Trump’s victory to launch military projects and reduce AI regulation

07/29/2024 / By Belle Carter

Giant technocrats and national defense allies are betting on Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s victorious win in the 2024 election because they are already getting ready to mount projects that would develop cutting-edge military technology and at the same time review “unnecessary and burdensome” artificial intelligence (AI) policies that “stifle innovation.”

Employees from the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonprofit led by Trump’s former chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow and other ex-Trump officials, are already drafting an executive order that would launch a series of “Manhattan Projects,” according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private plans.

The said plan would also create “industry-led” agencies to evaluate AI models and secure systems from foreign adversaries. The framework, which includes a section titled “Make America First in AI,” provides a different strategy for the burgeoning tech sector than that of the Biden administration. The previous year, Biden issued a sweeping executive order that imposed emergency powers to demand AI systems for safety testing.

“The military-industrial complex, with its myriad technocrats, will harvest the fruit of its conquest. What does the military want with multiple Manhattan Projects based on AI? To make war. With who? First America, then the world,” Patrick Wood, editor of Technocracy.news commented. The tech news outlet further reported that the GOP adopted a platform that includes repealing the Biden AI executive order during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“We will repeal Joe Biden’s dangerous executive order that hinders AI innovation and imposes radical leftwing ideas on the development of this technology,” the GOP platform indicated. “In its place, Republicans support AI development rooted in free speech and human flourishing.”

However, the Trump campaign said that “no aspect of future presidential staffing or policy announcements should be deemed official” unless they come directly from Trump or an authorized member of his campaign team. AFPI spokeswoman Hilton Beckham concurred in a statement saying that the document does not represent the organization’s “official position.”

“AFPI does not coordinate with or represent any candidate or campaign,” Beckham said. “We receive thousands of policy ideas from across the country each month. This document is an example of those ideas.”

Meanwhile, following the attempted assassination of Trump, key tech executives and investors, including Big Tech mogul Elon Musk and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have endorsed the 45th POTUS for re-election. During his time in the White House, Trump maintained close ties to venture capitalist Peter Thiel and some key executives within the former PayPal CEO’s inner circle. (Related: Trump shot in the ear, survives assassination attempt as questions emerge about Secret Service and local police.)

On Tuesday, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz also endorsed Trump on their podcast. They have posted a political agenda in which they say the U.S. government has become “far more hostile to new startups than it used to be” by regulating new technologies such as blockchain and AI. The venture capitalists also said that Trump told them his views on AI at a recent dinner. Trump had a very simple view of the technology, in contrast to the Biden administration, they added.

The former president reportedly told the two: “AI is very scary, but we absolutely have to win because if we don’t win then China wins, and that’s a very bad world.” They also voiced support for his plan to revoke the Biden AI executive order, which Andreessen said would “enshrine” OpenAI and a handful of other AI companies as monopolies and “destroy the startup ecosystem underneath that.”

Musk endorses Trump despite clash in electric vehicle mandate

Electric car maker and Tesla CEO Elon Musk still endorses Trump despite their difference in opinion when it comes to the current government’s push to shift from fossil fuel engine vehicles to electric-robo cars.

“He [Musk] did say, I strongly endorse you, despite the fact that I’m against the electric car mandate,” Trump touted his “good relationship” with Musk.

“I disagree with the electric cars for everybody,” he added, arguing that he’s “very much against” it. “You want a gasoline-propelled car or want maybe a hybrid. You want to have a choice. And that includes electric.”

Meanwhile, during an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, July 24, Trump responded to claims that the tech billionaire would donate $45 million a month to a super PAC in support of his candidacy. “Somebody told me he was going to give me $45 million a month. I said that sounds like a lot. And even for Elon, that’s a lot,” he said. Reports came out recently that Musk was planning to donate to America PAC, which focuses on registering voters and urging swing state residents to vote early and request mail-in ballots. But Musk already denied the claims.

In an interview on X on Monday evening, Musk told commentator Jordan Peterson “What has been reported in the media is simply not true. I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”

NEW: Elon Musk blasts the Wall Street Journal, says he never said he was donating $45 million a month to Donald Trump.

Reporter: “Are you still gonna donate to Trump? Are you still donating $45 million?”

Musk: “At no point did I say that I was donating $45 million a month for… pic.twitter.com/6PCTwiJCm7

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 24, 2024