Comparing Trump and Harris' records on technology regulation

Not surprisingly, technology regulation is a serious issue within the 2024 US presidential election campaign.

Over the last decade, advanced technologies, from social media algorithms to large artificial intelligence language models, have had a profound impact on society. These changes, which spanned the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations, led to calls for the federal government to manage the technologies and the powerful corporations that use them.

As a researcher in information systems and AII reviewed each candidates' technology regulatory filings. Here are the necessary differences.

Algorithmic damage

With artificial intelligence now widespread, governments world wide are grappling with the right way to do it regulate various points of the technology. The candidates offer different visions for US AI policy. One area where there’s major disparity is the detection and treatment of algorithmic harm attributable to the widespread use of AI technology.

AI is impacting your life in ways you may miss. Bias in algorithms used for lending and hiring decisions could end This reinforces a vicious cycle of discrimination. For example, a student who cannot take out loans for school would have less of a likelihood of getting the education they need free yourself from poverty.

At the AI ​​Safety Summit within the UK in November 2023, Harris spoke concerning the promise of AI, but in addition the hazards it brings algorithmic bias, deepfakes and wrongful arrests. Biden signed an executive order on AI on October 30, 2023, stating that recognized AI systems may pose unacceptable risks of harm to civil and human rights and individual well-being. In parallel, federal agencies reminiscent of the Federal Trade Commission have taken enforcement actions to guard against algorithmic harm.

In contrast, the Trump administration has made no public statement on mitigating algorithmic harm. Trump said it desires to repeal President Biden's AI regulation. However, in recent interviews, Trump has highlighted the hazards posed by technologies reminiscent of Deepfakes and security challenges of AI systems, suggesting a willingness to deal with the growing risks of AI.

Technological standards

The Trump administration signed this American AI Initiative Executive Order on February 11, 2019. The order committed to doubling investment in AI research and establishing the primary national AI research institutes. The order also included a AI technical standards plan and established guidelines for using AI by the federal government. Trump also signed an executive order on December 3, 2020. Promote using trustworthy AI within the federal government.

The Biden-Harris administration has tried to go further. Harris convened the heads of Google, Microsoft and other technology corporations on the White House on May 4, 2023 to accomplish that a series of voluntary commitments to guard individual rights. The Biden administration's executive order includes a very important initiative to check the vulnerability of very large, general-purpose AI models trained on massive amounts of information. The goal is to discover the risks hackers pose to those models, including those supporting OpenAI's popular ChatGPT and DALL-E.

Antitrust law

Antitrust enforcement – ​​restricting or conditioning mergers and acquisitions – is one other way the federal government can regulate the tech industry.

The Trump administration's antitrust dossier includes his try and block AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner. The merger was finally approved by a federal judge after the FTC filed a lawsuit under the Trump administration to dam the deal. The Trump administration Google also filed an antitrust lawsuit focused on its dominance in web searches.

Biden signed an executive order on July 9, 2021, to implement antitrust laws arising from the anti-competitive effects of dominant web platforms. The order also targeted acquisition of emerging competitors, data aggregation, unfair competition in attention markets and user surveillance. The Biden-Harris administration has filed antitrust lawsuits against it Apple and Google.

The Biden-Harris administration Merger guidelines in 2023 outlined rules to find out when mergers will be considered anticompetitive. While each administrations have filed antitrust lawsuits, the Biden administration's antitrust push appears to be stronger when it comes to its impact on a possible restructuring even stage a breakup from dominant corporations like Google.

Cryptocurrency

The candidates take different approaches to cryptocurrency regulation. Towards the tip of his term, Trump tweeted to support cryptocurrency regulation. Also late in Trump's term, the Federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network emerged proposed regulations To do that, financial corporations would have needed to record people's identities any cryptocurrency wallet a user has sent funds to. The regulations haven’t been issued.

Since then, Trump has modified his position on cryptocurrencies. He has criticized existing US laws and called for the United States to develop into a Bitcoin superpower. The Trump campaign is the primary presidential campaign Accept cryptocurrency payments.

The Biden-Harris administrationIn contrast, he established regulatory restrictions on cryptocurrencies with the Securities and Exchange Commission that led to this a spread of enforcement measures. The The White House vetoed it the Financial Innovation and Technology for the twenty first Century Act, which aimed to make clear accounting for cryptocurrencies, a bill preferred by the cryptocurrency industry.

Data protection

Biden's AI Implementing regulation Calls on Congress to pass data protection laws but provides no legal framework for doing so. The Trump White House's American AI initiative Implementing regulation only mentions data protection within the broadest sense and demands that AI technologies be protected.Civil Rights, Privacy and American Values.” The order didn’t mention how existing data protection could be enforced.

In the United States, several states have attempted to pass laws addressing privacy issues. There is currently a patchwork of nationwide initiatives and an absence of them comprehensive data protection laws on the federal level.

The lack of federal privacy protections is a stark reminder that while candidates address a number of the challenges posed by the event of AI and technology generally, there continues to be much work to be done to manage the technology in the general public interest.

Overall, the Biden administration's antitrust and technology regulation efforts appear largely focused on reining in tech corporations and protecting consumers. In addition, monopoly protection is being redesigned for the twenty first century. This appears to be the fundamental difference between the 2 governments.