A new US government order could soon require tech companies to keep their AI systems free from political influence.
The Trump administration is preparing a regulation that would force AI companies with federal contracts to maintain strict political neutrality. According to the Wall Street Journal, the move targets what officials describe as “woke” AI models. The initiative is being pushed by Trump advisors David Sacks and Sriram Krishnan, and is part of a broader effort to roll back diversity programs across government and industry.
If enacted, the order could have sweeping effects on the tech sector, where nearly every major company competes for lucrative government contracts. Just days ago, the Pentagon announced a new partnership with major AI providers, highlighting what’s at stake.
The push comes amid ongoing criticism from conservatives who say mainstream AI systems are biased. Google’s Gemini model recently made headlines after it generated images of ethnically diverse Nazi soldiers. Research like David Rozado’s study has found that many AI chatbots, including Grok, tend to lean left on political questions.
Rozado put 24 large language models through eleven different political alignment tests. Models that underwent additional fine-tuning after their initial training were more likely to be classified as left-leaning. In contrast, base models without fine-tuning appeared neutral, but often gave inconsistent or contradictory answers. Rozado’s results suggest that political fine-tuning can be accomplished with relatively little effort, but he found no evidence of deliberate manipulation by the companies themselves.
Musks xAI stands to gain
The anti-“woke AI” order is part of a larger package of AI policies Trump is expected to announce next week. Other proposals include boosting US chip exports and accelerating the construction of data centers, with the goal of keeping up with China in the global AI race. The administration also wants allied nations to adopt American-made AI technology over Chinese alternatives.
The neutrality order is likely to prove the most contentious, as it could favor certain companies over others. Elon Musk’s xAI, which actively markets itself as an “anti-woke” alternative, could benefit. However, xAI also faced scrutiny recently when its Grok chatbot spread antisemitic Hitler propaganda.
