OpenAI's "AI Action Plan" aims to secure America's dominance in artificial intelligence

In an era where artificial intelligence dictates global power dynamics, OpenAI is making bold moves to secure America's dominance in the sector.

In an era where artificial intelligence dictates global power dynamics, OpenAI is making bold moves to try and keep America’s technological superiority amidst a rapidly changing landscape.

Its new plan, the “AI Action Plan,” tries to ease the regulatory framework, implement export controls, and increase federal investment to stay ahead of China’s AI expansion.

The plan, part of a broader partnership agreement signed by OpenAI and the Trump administration on March 13, also focuses on limiting regulatory oversight and allowing for rapid development of AI in the US.

“Too much state-level regulation could sap the vitality of U.S. companies and hinder the pace of innovation, setting the stage for China’s state-supported AI players to forge ahead,” the plan states.

A proposal by OpenAI to adjust copyright law to allow AIs to use copyrighted material in their training programs. If the copyright policies are too restrictive, it could put the U.S. at a disadvantage to their foreign competitors — especially the Chinese ones, which operate among weaker copyright enforcement.

OpenAI’s approach marks a pivotal point in American AI policy, combining regulatory advocacy with industrial ambition to ensure the U.S. stays on top of the game when it comes to AI.

At the heart of OpenAI’s plan is an export-control strategy that aims to limit the country’s expanding influence in China. This will prevent the misuse of AI platforms and technologies by opposing nations. Consequently, the export controls will protect the U.S. national security.

OpenAI’s plan also calls for using federal dollars to explain to the world that American-made AI is safer and that U.S.-based companies should stay ahead of the international AI stream.

DeepSeek is not only a Chinese AI initiative and a commercial competitor but also a fundamental ally of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In late January, DeepSeek grew infamous for blocking information on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, a moment that sparked a wave of screenshots on social media demonstrating China’s censorship.

The $500 billion plan

A central part of OpenAI’s pitch is locking in greater federal funding for AI infrastructure. This means ensuring that the high-water mark for American progress in the field of AI does not merely concern protecting what comes next from foreign threats but also reinforces the necessary computational and data infrastructure to sustain long-term growth.

The Stargate Project, for instance, is a joint effort by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX that will provide up to $500 billion for the development of AI infrastructure in the United States.

This ambitious initiative is intended to cement American AI superiority while producing thousands of domestic jobs — an ironic twist considering the common narrative of AI rendering jobs obsolete.

It is a major tactical shift in the approach to AI policy, recognizing that private sector investments are not sufficient to maintain competitiveness against state-sponsored efforts like China’s DeepSeep.

The Stargate Project aims to expand semiconductor manufacturing and ensure the construction of advanced data centers within the United States to keep AI development domestic.

In its early stages, Federal support for AI infrastructure is critical — both for growing economic competitiveness and for national security. AI-powered features are often used in national defense and intelligence. For instance, Shield AI’s Nova is an autonomous quadcopter drone that uses AI to fly itself through complex environments without GPS to gather life-saving information in combat environments.

Moreover, AI is also crucial in cyber defense against hacking, phishing, ransomware, and other cybersecurity threats because it can identify deviations or abnormalities in systems in real time. Its role in detecting patterns and spotting irregularities helps the U.S. safeguard critical defense infrastructure from cyberattacks, highlighting the importance of quickly advancing AI for defense purposes.

Battle for AI training models

A key element of OpenAI’s proposal is the call for a new copyright approach that would ensure that American AI models can access copyrighted material for use in their training. The ability to train on a wide range of datasets is critical to keeping AI models sophisticated.

If the copyright policies are too restrictive, it could put the U.S. at a disadvantage to their foreign competitors — especially the Chinese ones, which operate among weaker copyright enforcement.

After the models are trained, they undergo a multi-stage approval process. This includes assessing the AI tools for risk, subjecting them to the governance board's scrutiny, and verifying their compliance with frameworks such as the House AI Policy and DHS conditional approvals.

Although FedRAMP’s “fast pass” may expedite deployment, antennae from the FTC and regulations will keep AI’s purposes on the same shelf as national security policy and consumer protection.

These safeguards, while undoubtedly very important, often slow the pace of AI adoption in crucial government use cases.

Now, OpenAI, in particular, is lobbying for a partnership between the government and the industry, where AI companies voluntarily contribute their models’ data, and in exchange, they would not be subject to