It’s no surprise that technology regulation is an important issue in the 2024 US presidential campaign.
Over the past decade, advanced technologies, from social media algorithms to artificial intelligence systems with large language models, have profoundly affected society. These changes, which have affected the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations, have sparked calls for the federal government to regulate the technologies and the powerful companies that use them.
As an information systems and AI researcher, I have reviewed both candidates’ records on technology regulation. Here are the important differences.
Algorithmic damage
With artificial intelligence now widespread, governments around the world are grappling with how to regulate various aspects of technology. The candidates offer different visions of US AI policy. One area where there is a marked difference is in recognizing and addressing algorithmic harms related to the widespread use of AI technology.
AI is affecting your life in ways you might not realize. Biases in algorithms used for lending and hiring decisions could end up reinforcing a vicious cycle of discrimination. For example, a student who cannot get a loan to go to college would then be less likely to get the education needed to escape poverty.
At the AI Safety Summit in Britain in November 2023, Harris spoke about the promise of AI, but also the dangers of 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. At the same time, federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission have taken enforcement action to guard against algorithmic harm.
In contrast, the Trump administration has not taken a public position on mitigating algorithmic harm. Trump has said he wants to repeal President Biden’s executive order on AI. However, in recent interviews, Trump has highlighted the dangers of technologies such as deepfakes and the challenges posed to the security of AI systems, suggesting a willingness to engage with the growing risks of AI.
Technology standards
The Trump Administration signed the American AI Initiative Executive Order on February 11, 2019. The Executive Order commits to doubling investments in AI research and creating the first set of national AI research institutes. AI. The order also included a plan for AI technical standards and established guidelines for the federal government’s use of AI. Trump also signed an executive order on December 3, 2020 promoting the use of trusted AI in the federal government.
The Biden-Harris administration has tried to go further. Harris summoned executives from Google, Microsoft and other technology companies to the White House on May 4, 2023, to make a series of voluntary commitments to protect individual rights. The Biden administration’s executive order contains a significant initiative to probe the vulnerability of very large-scale, general-purpose AI models trained on enormous amounts of data. The goal is to determine the risks that hackers pose to these models, including those powering OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT and DALL-E.
Antitrust
Antitrust enforcement – restricting or conditioning mergers and acquisitions – is another way the federal government regulates the technology industry.
The Trump administration’s antitrust record includes its attempt to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner. The merger was ultimately cleared by a federal judge after the FTC, under the Trump administration, filed a lawsuit to block the deal. The Trump administration also filed an antitrust complaint against Google, focusing on its dominance in Internet search.
Biden signed an executive order on July 9, 2021 to enforce antitrust laws arising from the anticompetitive effects of dominant internet platforms. The order also targeted the acquisition of nascent competitors, data aggregation, unfair competition in attention markets and user surveillance. The Biden-Harris administration has filed antitrust complaints against Apple and Google.
The Biden-Harris administration’s 2023 Merger Guidelines set out rules for determining when mergers can be considered anticompetitive. While both administrations have filed antitrust complaints, the Biden administration’s antitrust push appears stronger in terms of its potential impact on reorganizing or even orchestrating a breakup of dominant companies such as Google.
Cryptocurrency
The candidates have different approaches to regulating cryptocurrencies. At the end of his term, Trump tweeted in favor of regulating cryptocurrencies. Also at the end of the Trump administration, the federal Financial Crimes Network proposed regulations that would have required financial companies to collect the identity of any cryptocurrency wallet to which a user sent funds. The regulations have not been adopted.
Trump has since changed his stance on cryptocurrencies. He criticized existing US laws and called for the US to become a Bitcoin superpower. The Trump campaign is the first presidential campaign to accept cryptocurrency payments.
The Biden-Harris administration, on the other hand, has implemented regulatory restrictions on cryptocurrencies with the Securities and Exchange Commission, resulting in a series of enforcement actions. The White House vetoed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act that aimed to clarify cryptocurrency accounting, a bill favored by the cryptocurrency industry.
Data Privacy
Biden’s executive order on AI calls on Congress to pass privacy legislation, but it does not provide a legislative framework for doing so. The Trump White House’s American AI Initiative executive order mentions privacy only in general terms, calling for AI technologies to respect “civil liberties, privacy, and American values.” The order does not mention how existing privacy protections would be enforced.
In the United States, several states have attempted to pass laws addressing aspects of data privacy. Currently, there is a patchwork of state-level initiatives and a lack of comprehensive data privacy legislation at the federal level.
The lack of federal data privacy protections is a stark reminder that even as the nominees address some of the challenges posed by developments in AI and technology in general, there is still much work to be done to regulate the technology in the public interest.
Overall, the Biden administration’s antitrust and technology regulatory efforts appear broadly aligned with the goal of reining in tech companies and protecting consumers. It’s also about reinventing monopoly protections for the 21st century. This appears to be the main difference between the two administrations.
Anjana Susarla is a professor of information systems at Michigan State University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
