Regulation is loosening, not tightening
Through 2023 and 2024, governments seemed poised to put real brakes on AI development — the EU AI Act, the Biden executive order, the UK's Bletchley Park summit. Eighteen months later the direction has reversed. Major rules are being delayed, watered down, or repealed; safety institutes are being repositioned; and the political weather has shifted from "AI needs to be slowed down" to "AI must not be slowed down." The question is whether this is a temporary lull or a structural change in the politics of AI governance.
Timeline
- October 30, 2023
President Biden signs Executive Order 14110 on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, the most aggressive action any major government has taken on AI at the time.
- August 1, 2024
The EU AI Act enters into force — the first comprehensive AI regulation by a major economy. Industry braces for compliance costs that some estimate at billions of euros.
- January 20, 2025
President Trump revokes Biden's AI executive order on his first day back in office, replacing it with a directive to remove regulatory barriers to AI development.
- June 1, 2025
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announces the US AI Safety Institute will be rebranded as the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), shifting focus from safety testing to standards and competitiveness.
- May 7, 2026
The European Council and Parliament reach a provisional agreement on the Digital Omnibus, a package of targeted amendments to simplify and streamline the EU AI Act, including delays to high-risk AI compliance deadlines.
Where things stand right now
The political momentum on AI has flipped from "we must regulate this" to "we must not slow this down." Major rules are being delayed in the EU, repealed in the US, and softened almost everywhere they exist. Whether this lasts depends on whether AI produces a high-profile failure serious enough to swing public opinion back the other way — the structural pressure to deregulate is real, but a single major incident could reverse the direction quickly.