‘The race of our lifetimes’: Here’s what Trump’s AI Action Plan means for Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration last week unveiled its “AI Action Plan,”revoking former President Joe Biden’s signature AI guardrails.

While Utah leaders on both sides of the aisle breathed a collective sigh of relief when the AI enforcement moratorium was axed from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” the vibe around the latest plan is far more positive.

Salt Lake Chamber CEO and President Derek Miller said he’s a firm believer in the notion that “AI is going to change everything.”

“We already see it happening,” Miller said.

The Beehive State hasn’t been late hopping onto the AI bandwagon, either, being recognized around the world for having the “first and smartest of the AI regulations that have been proposed,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in June. These policies include bills that create a state-run AI policy lab, clarify consumer protection liability for AI and require AI disclosures in industries like finance and mental health.

But what does the White House’s newly released AI Action Plan do?

Centered around three pillars, the plan aims to accelerate AI innovation, build American AI infrastructure and position the U.S. as a leader in international AI diplomacy and security.

 

All of this, Miller said, is music to his ears and the ears of Utah’s innovation and business community.

“What I think is going to be the very best thing for business is the discussion about accelerating the innovation by removing the regulation. And it’s not just a theory,” Miller said, adding that Utah has already leaned into this approach.

In Utah, businesses seeking to innovate with AI can go to the Department of Commerce and be placed in a “regulatory sandbox” where certain regulations will be removed.

“To see the federal government taking that same regulatory approach is going to be very good, not just very good for business, but very good to put the United States at the forefront of the AI race,” Miller said.

Miller also spoke to how the proposed 10-year moratorium that was eventually struck from Trump’s tax bill differed from the AI Action Plan in that it would’ve been more restrictive on a state-by-state level.

“To the AI Action Plan … my reading of it is that it’s going to be a lot more friendly, and not saying one-size-fits-all, but really promoting AI. Not over-regulation, but instead AI innovation,” Miller said.

Of course, AI requires energy to power it — a substantial amount of energy.

More specifically, data centers — the driving force behind AI — draw huge amounts of water from natural sources to circulate through the building-level cooling system, causing the water to absorb heat emitted to run the centers.

“You have to have those data centers. They’re not just important — they are critical. You don’t have AI unless you have those data centers,” Miller said.

He also said that data centers aren’t the “end-all be-all” on the food chain of the AI economy.

“What Utah does really well in our tech industry is SaaS — software as a service. The innovations that were made over the last two decades in Utah in SaaS revolutionized, across the globe, how businesses did business. And now there’s this awesome opportunity to incorporate AI into all of that SaaS software that will revolutionize again, how businesses around the globe do business. I think it would be a mistake for us to focus too much, or particularly only on the data center side of it,” Miller said.

The AI Action Plan promises to “continue to reject radical climate dogma and bureaucratic red tape” that the administration feels has slowed the buildout of AI infrastructure and the energy needed to power it.

But how will that work in a state facing a significant water shortage?

“We are a high mountain desert. We do have water challenges. It’s our No. 1 constraint when it comes to our economy continuing to grow. And frankly, we do have energy challenges,” Miller said.

Still, he feels like the state of Utah is well-positioned to handle the ethical concerns surrounding AI. Miller specifically mentioned the University of Utah in 2023, launching its $100 million Responsible AI Initiative.

The initiative will look to advance AI in a way that achieves “societal good” while also protecting privacy, civil rights and liberties and promoting principles of accountability, transparency and equity, the university said. Additionally, it will focus on harnessing AI to help with Utah and region-specific issues like public services, health care, sustainability, water resources and building the right workforce for the jobs of the 21st century.

“What better place is there than Utah to think about ‘How do we deal with this new tool in an ethical way and in a responsible way?'” Miller said.

Above all, Miller said he thinks having a national vision for AI buildout is his favorite aspect of the plan.

“We’ve got the plan as a country for how we’re going to have AI dominance and none of us should make any mistake by not realizing and we should realize that this is just like the arms race, just like the space race, just like every other race, we are in a race of our own right now,” Miller said. “It is the race of our lifetimes. It will determine our economy and the prosperity of our kids and our grandkids, and for the foreseeable future, about America winning this AI race and being dominant in it, and now we have a plan to do that.”

Related: Lawmaker proposes task force to look at AI integration in schools