On January 23, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order entitled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The Executive Order seeks to maintain US leadership in AI innovation.  To that end, the Order “revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation,” but does not identify the impacted policies and directives.  Rather, it appears those policies and directives are to be identified by the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, working with agency heads.  The Order also requires the development of a new AI action plan within 180 days. Although the details of the new AI action plan are forthcoming, the Order states that the development of AI systems must be “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.”

Earlier in the week, Trump also signed an executive order revoking 78 executive orders signed by President Biden, including Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, issued on October 30, 2023.  Biden’s Executive Order sought to regulate the development, deployment, and governance of artificial intelligence within the United States, and the document offered insight into the types of issues that concerned the previous Administration (specifically, AI security, privacy and discrimination).  More information on Biden’s Executive Order can be found here.  

As relevant to employers and developers of AI tools for employers, the revocation of Biden’s Executive Order is largely symbolic, because it did not directly impose requirements on employers who use AI.  Instead, it directed federal agencies to prepare reports or publish non-binding guidance on topics such as:

  • “the labor-market effects of AI,”
  • “the abilities of agencies to support workers displaced by the adoptions of AI and other technological advancements,” and
  • “principles and best practices for employers” to “mitigate AI’s potential harms to employees’ well-being and maximize its potential benefits.”

Biden’s Executive Order had also directed agencies to provide anti-discrimination guidance to federal benefits programs and federal contractors over their use of AI algorithms and to coordinate on best practices for investigating and enforcing civil rights violations related to AI.

While employers may not experience any immediate effects from the two new Executive Orders this week, taken together, they lend support to predictions that the new Administration would take a more hands-off approach to regulating AI.  We will continue monitor how the AI legal landscape evolves under the new Administration and continue to report on AI developments that affect employers.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Guy Brenner Guy Brenner

Guy Brenner is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and leads the Firm’s Washington, D.C. Labor & Employment practice. He is head of the Government Contractor Compliance Group, co-head of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Group and a member…

Guy Brenner is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and leads the Firm’s Washington, D.C. Labor & Employment practice. He is head of the Government Contractor Compliance Group, co-head of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Group and a member of the Restrictive Covenants, Trade Secrets & Unfair Competition Group. He has extensive experience representing employers in both single-plaintiff and class action matters, as well as in arbitration proceedings. He also regularly assists federal government contractors with the many special employment-related compliance challenges they face.

Guy represents employers in all aspects of employment and labor litigation and counseling, with an emphasis on non-compete and trade secrets issues, medical and disability leave matters, employee/independent contractor classification issues, and the investigation and litigation of whistleblower claims. He assists employers in negotiating and drafting executive agreements and employee mobility agreements, including non-competition, non-solicit and non-disclosure agreements, and also conducts and supervises internal investigations. He also regularly advises clients on pay equity matters, including privileged pay equity analyses.

Guy advises federal government contractors and subcontractors all aspects of Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) regulations and requirements, including preparing affirmative action plans, responding to desk audits, and managing on-site audits.

Guy is a former clerk to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the US District Court of the District of Columbia.

Photo of Jonathan Slowik Jonathan Slowik

Jonathan Slowik represents employers in all aspects of litigation, with a particular emphasis in wage and hour class, collective, and representative actions, including those under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). He has defended dozens of class, collective, and representative actions in state…

Jonathan Slowik represents employers in all aspects of litigation, with a particular emphasis in wage and hour class, collective, and representative actions, including those under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). He has defended dozens of class, collective, and representative actions in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout California and beyond. In addition to his core wage and hour work, Jonathan has defended employers in single-plaintiff discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases, and in labor arbitrations. Jonathan also regularly advises clients on a wide range of compliance issues and on employment issues arising in corporate transactions.

Jonathan has deep experience representing clients in the retail and hospitality industries, but has assisted all types of clients, including those in the health care, telecommunications, finance, media, entertainment, professional services, manufacturing, sports, nonprofit, and information technology industries.

Jonathan is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s California Employment Law Blog and has written extensively about PAGA on various platforms. He has been published or quoted in Law360, the Daily Journal, the California Lawyer, the Northern California Record, and the UCLA Law Review.

Jonathan received his B.A. from the University of Southern California in 2007, magna cum laude, and J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2012, where he was a managing editor of the UCLA Law Review.

Photo of Margo Richard Margo Richard

Margo R. Richard is an associate in the Labor Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Counseling Group.

Margo attended Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she graduated Cum Laude with a Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Certificate. While in…

Margo R. Richard is an associate in the Labor Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Counseling Group.

Margo attended Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she graduated Cum Laude with a Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship Certificate. While in law school, Margo served as a teaching and research assistant to Professor Masai McDougall. She competed as a team member of the American Bar Association Moot Court Team, a coach of the Mardi Gras Invitational Moot Court Team, and was selected for membership into the Order of Barristers. Margo was also a member of the Loyola Law Review, Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Society, and Black Law Students Association.