The AI War Begins: Trump to Unveil Sweeping Orders at Explosive DC Summit

Key Takeaways:

President Trump will headline the "Winning the AI Race" summit on July 23 in Washington, D.C., unveiling a sweeping set of executive orders aimed at cementing U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence.

The event, hosted by David Sacks and the All-In Podcast team, is expected to build on the recent Energy AI Conference, where over $90 billion in AI-related infrastructure was announced.

Controversial provisions targeting perceived political bias in AI models, as well as aggressive plans to accelerate chip exports and data center expansion, will likely shape the next phase of America’s AI strategy.

President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a keynote address at next week’s highly anticipated "Winning the AI Race" conference, signaling the administration’s most forceful intervention yet in the artificial intelligence arms race. The event, organized by David Sacks, Michael Kratsios, and the Hill & Valley Forum, comes at a critical moment in U.S. tech policy, as Washington seeks to accelerate AI deployment while countering China’s aggressive development push. Fresh off a $92 billion wave of energy and data center investment commitments at the recent Energy AI Conference in Pittsburgh, the administration is poised to release an AI Action Plan and a set of executive orders that could reshape the landscape for AI developers, infrastructure providers, and national security stakeholders alike.

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The conference is scheduled for July 23 in Washington, D.C., and will feature senior Trump administration officials alongside industry leaders like AMD CEO Lisa Su, Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar, and MP Materials CEO James Litinsky. According to sources familiar with the planning, Trump’s keynote will focus on establishing a national AI doctrine that prioritizes infrastructure build-out, AI hardware sovereignty, and political neutrality in AI systems. The event is being hosted by the All-In Podcast team and the Hill & Valley Forum, co-founded by Jacob Helberg, who is also the nominee for Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.

Among the headline initiatives, the administration is preparing a highly scrutinized executive order that would require AI models used in federal contracts to be "politically neutral", a move insiders say is aimed squarely at curbing what the White House views as "woke AI". This directive is being shaped by Sacks and senior White House adviser Sriram Krishnan, both vocal critics of progressive leanings in AI outputs. The order could have significant implications for companies like Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI, whose large language models have faced conservative backlash over perceived bias.

Another key piece of the emerging policy package is an export-oriented order expected to fast-track the deployment of U.S.-made AI chips, particularly Nvidia’s high-performance units, to partner nations such as the UAE. This would mark a notable reversal from earlier restrictions on outbound AI hardware and comes after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly lobbied the administration to soften curbs that he claims damage U.S. competitiveness.

Permitting reform is also on the docket. The administration is expected to announce new measures aimed at easing regulatory bottlenecks for data center construction and related energy infrastructure—an issue that has become urgent as tech companies scramble to secure enough power for compute-intensive AI training. At the Pittsburgh summit earlier this month, Trump joined tech and energy executives in promoting these investments as critical to U.S. industrial and economic renewal.

Trump’s forthcoming AI Action Plan, set to be unveiled at the conference, was commissioned shortly after his return to office and will replace the Biden-era framework centered on transparency and safety testing. Trump rescinded that 2023 directive via executive order in January, empowering Sacks and Kratsios to architect a new strategy emphasizing innovation, deregulation, and global AI leadership. The plan is being developed with significant private sector input and is likely to favor market-friendly initiatives that accelerate AI adoption across industries.

While the administration frames these moves as pro-growth and anti-China, critics may view some provisions—especially those involving content moderation and neutrality requirements—as politicized overreach. Companies like Anthropic, which employs several Biden-era officials and has opposed aspects of Trump’s AI policy, may find themselves in the administration’s crosshairs.

The broader goal, according to White House insiders, is to lock in U.S. dominance in the global AI race by boosting domestic industrial capacity, supporting friendly nations with American-made tools, and removing guardrails that are seen as slowing innovation. The event will serve as a platform to promote that vision and draw a contrast with China’s state-directed AI model, which recently drew attention after startup DeepSeek launched its cost-efficient R1 model, rattling investors in the West.

Ultimately, "Winning the AI Race" represents a political and policy inflection point. If Trump’s plan succeeds in aligning government support, private capital, and national infrastructure behind AI development, the U.S. could solidify its lead in a technology that will define the next century of global competition. But as with any grand strategy, the devil will be in the execution—and in this case, the data center permitting forms.