Letter to David Sacks Focuses on Five Key Areas: Global Leadership, Infrastructure, Government Efficiency, Regulation, and U.S. Workers

 Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, in a letter to President-elect Trump’s AI Czar David Sacks, urged the incoming Trump Administration to build upon its past work to strengthen and advance America’s leadership in AI and global innovation.

“By focusing on what has made American technology great, the Trump administration and the tech industry can work together to ensure that America remains the undisputed leader in technological innovation and that the benefits of that leadership are enjoyed by every American,” Linda Moore, TechNet President and CEO, states in the letter. “Given the rapid pace of AI development and global competition, the actions outlined in this letter are urgent to preserve and extend American AI leadership. The strategic decisions that you make will significantly shape the landscape of AI technologies and their impact on American society and our economy.”

The letter focuses on five priorities:

  • Maintaining global leadership on AI policy and innovation,
  • Modernizing data and energy infrastructure,
  • Driving government efficiency,
  • Preventing overregulation, and
  • Strengthening American workers.

The full text of the letter is below.

 

Dear Mr. Sacks,

Thank you for your service in helping President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance tackle some of the most important tech policy challenges facing our country. The United States’ leadership in global innovation has powered domestic economic growth, strengthened our country’s national security, and provided Americans with good-paying jobs. As you know, that leadership is currently under attack as foreign nations, including our greatest adversaries, are positioning to overtake the United States in critical emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). To meet this challenge, we write to offer a roadmap for the second Trump administration’s success in AI policy. By focusing on what has made American technology great, the Trump administration and the tech industry can work together to ensure that America remains the undisputed leader in technological innovation and that the benefits of that leadership are enjoyed by every American.

TechNet is the national, bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives that promotes the growth of the innovation economy by advocating a targeted policy agenda at the federal and 50-state level. TechNet’s diverse membership includes dynamic American businesses ranging from startups to the most iconic companies on the planet and represents over 4.5 million employees and countless customers in the fields of information technology, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, the sharing and gig economies, advanced energy, transportation, cybersecurity, venture capital, and finance.

TechNet’s members include many of the world’s leading AI developers, researchers, and users. We appreciate the vital foundation established by President Trump’s 2019 executive order on AI, which prioritized AI research and development investments, building an AI workforce, and unleashing and leveraging AI resources to power economic growth and enhance government services and U.S. national security.  TechNet and its members look forward to working with the Trump administration to build upon its past work to strengthen and advance America’s leadership in AI and global innovation.

Maintain Global Leadership on AI Innovation and Policy

While the recent acceleration in AI innovation holds immense potential to improve lives, drive economic growth, and accelerate scientific progress, it also has the potential to shift the global technological landscape. As other countries move to establish themselves as leaders in setting global AI policy, the Trump administration has a significant opportunity to extend U.S. technological supremacy by permanently establishing a U.S. AI safety institute or similar non-regulatory entity to advance pro-American AI standards on the global stage.

The establishment of an AI safety institute is critical to maintaining U.S. influence and leadership in the development of science-backed standards and technical work that underpin the responsible development of advanced AI systems, which is critical for U.S. competitiveness. Nations around the world, including China, are establishing their own AI safety institutes and intend to supplant U.S. leadership in AI policy if given the opening. We urge the Trump administration to seize the opportunity to lead multilateral AI standards development efforts by solidifying a well-resourced measurement science-focused U.S. AI safety institute, with a particular focus on national security. This will ensure our nation’s experts are well-positioned to advocate in global forums for the advancement and adoption of American standards. Failure to do so would risk the imposition of international standards that are not in line with U.S. values and commercial and national security interests and that impede American AI companies’ ability to compete.

In addition to leading the world in AI standards and measurement science, it is of critical strategic importance that American AI technology serves as the primary foundation for AI innovation across the globe. To accomplish this, U.S. AI models must be allowed to excel and succeed. Open-source models, in particular, are low-cost, easy to configure, and already leveraged by key U.S. regulated industries and federal agencies. By allowing enterprises and other nations to build models on the foundation of U.S. models – open, closed, or hybrid – American technology is more likely to form the backbone for AI development around the world. As a result, American values become embedded in global technology, infrastructure and manufacturing, and global finance and e-commerce.

China is systematically exporting AI models that do not align with U.S. interests and democratic values in an attempt to gain a foothold in strategic markets across the globe. Efforts to impose strict export controls on U.S. AI models of any kind should be calibrated to ensure that they do not ultimately isolate American developers, weaken the competitive edge of U.S. companies, create barriers between our allied NATO and Five Eyes partner countries, and undermine U.S. national security by providing our adversaries with more opportunities to export their models and technology. TechNet urges the Trump administration to work to ensure that the world’s AI standards are rooted in American leadership and a commitment to international law and global peace and security.

Modernize Data and Energy Infrastructure

Digitalization and the development of critical and emerging technologies are rapidly increasing the demand for data storage and processing power in the United States. Over the coming decade, the availability of secure and reliable data center infrastructure will be critical to America’s continued leadership in global AI innovation.

Data centers provide essential capabilities for data processing, seamless connectivity, secure storage, cost-efficiency, and economy-wide job creation, offering substantial benefits both nationally and in the communities they serve. At the national level, data centers drive demand for advanced hardware and equipment, spurring manufacturers to innovate and contributing to advancements in processors, storage devices, and networking solutions that benefit a wide range of sectors. Furthermore, the need for high-speed connectivity in data centers has led telecommunications companies to invest heavily in infrastructure like fiber optics and cloud services, significantly enhancing network quality and reliability across the board.

As demand for data storage and processing surges, so does the need for robust and secure infrastructure that can meet the power, resilience, and security requirements of the digital economy. To meet this growing demand and ensure long-term industry growth, TechNet urges the Trump administration to prioritize policies that promote grid modernization, increased access to new and existing energy sources, streamlined permitting processes, and expedited court review of critical domestic energy and mineral projects.  TechNet’s members are committed to collaborating with the Trump administration to build a secure and resilient data ecosystem that supports critical infrastructure and national security, empowers communities, drives job creation, and solidifies America’s competitive advantage in the global economy.

Drive Government Efficiency

AI is reshaping the landscape of government operations, offering numerous advantages in efficiency, service delivery, and security.  TechNet supports federal government efforts to expand the utilization of AI to improve access to important services, drive efficiencies and cost savings, enhance data-driven decision-making, and benefit American citizens. We encourage the Trump administration to streamline AI adoption within federal agencies, reduce barriers to innovation, and accelerate the transfer of technological advances from government-led initiatives to the private sector. The administration should remove unnecessary bureaucracy, foster pilot programs, and emphasize commercial acquisition of AI. Bolstering our federal workforce through strategic hiring of AI experts and needed talent will also allow key government agencies to enhance their capacity to monitor, utilize, and ensure responsible and impactful AI development and deployment.

As American companies continue to lead in global AI innovation, TechNet supports federal government efforts to develop “AI-Ready Data.” The United States federal government is one of the world’s biggest data producers, and these important datasets are fueling innovation in the public and private sectors. The incoming Trump administration should continue the work it began in 2019 to implement the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, and ensure public government data assets are published as machine-readable data. As we move to greater deployment of AI systems for government use, ensuring this data is well-organized, managed, and published will allow these modern tools to deliver better insights. We also encourage the government to develop best practices for long-term data management.

Prevent Overregulation

The rapid advancement of AI technologies has outpaced federal regulatory frameworks, leading to an increasingly fragmented approach across states.  In 2024, TechNet tracked over 482 AI bills across all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This number is expected to rise in 2025.  The growing patchwork of state-level AI regulations could create significant compliance burdens for businesses operating across state lines. This patchwork could stifle the pace of innovation as companies are forced to spend more resources on legal conformity across jurisdictions instead of being able to use those resources to craft novel solutions and compete in the global AI market.

We strongly encourage the Trump administration to work with Congress to establish a cohesive federal AI governance strategy that includes full federal preemption to address the burdens posed by a state-level patchwork that will have a chilling effect on America’s global AI leadership. Regulatory consistency is essential for enabling long-term strategic planning and investment in the U.S. AI market, which is expected to reach $826 billion by 2030. If regulations across state jurisdictions continue to change and multiply, businesses will not be able to adequately define and adhere to their long-term objectives.  A patchwork of state laws would be particularly detrimental for small businesses, which, unlike their larger competitors, often lack the legal and compliance resources to manage excessive regulatory burdens. A single federal standard would help to maintain a level playing field and allow startups and young, innovative companies to compete.

Strengthen American Workers

AI has the potential to transform the nature of work for the better and benefit American workers across all industries and backgrounds. Today’s technological advances are accelerating the demand for talent, requiring an increasingly skilled and adaptable workforce.

Despite substantial private-sector investments in workforce training and resources, American companies consistently face talent shortages due to a lack of investment and focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and training programs. Although AI tools can help broaden access to and improve worker training resources, they are also reshaping the nature of labor demand.

The rapid adoption and integration of AI technology throughout non-tech sectors is poised to extend the demand for skilled workers well beyond the tech industry.

It is imperative that American students and workers have greater access to STEM education, technical training, and upskilling opportunities so they can attain the digital skills they need to take advantage of AI-driven job opportunities or pursue careers in in-demand STEM fields. TechNet encourages the Trump administration to prioritize greater government investments in upskilling, reskilling, and training programs and pathways that are imperative to ensuring that all American students and workers can realize the benefits of AI and succeed in a global, interconnected, and technology-driven economy. Efforts to increase access to digital skills training across occupations and expand online skills and workforce training programs for all communities are also critical to mitigating potential job displacements and providing all U.S. workers with the ability to adapt and advance their careers as jobs evolve.

TechNet also supports proposals, such as the NSF AI Education Act, to provide scholarship programs to increase AI education access and the development of robust AI education models. We also urge the Trump Administration to support the CREATE AI Act, which would lower barriers to entry for AI research, spur innovation, boost AI startups, and enhance U.S. competitiveness in AI research. We believe both of these policy proposals will be crucial to bolstering U.S. leadership in the AI arena and fostering a robust domestic AI workforce and ecosystem.

Lastly, even as we work to ensure that every American has the skills and opportunities to help lead AI innovation, we cannot afford to ignore the global talent pool. The United States and our adversaries are in a race to recruit the world’s best high-skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators of the next breakthrough technologies. If we do not fight for the best talent, we will lose our technological and competitive edge. As President Trump said when he proposed his “Build America Visa” in his first term, “we want these exceptional students and workers to stay, flourish, and thrive in America.” To win, the United States must streamline and broaden high-skilled worker visas like the H-1B program, eliminate discriminatory country caps on green cards, make it easier for foreign tech entrepreneurs to come to the United States to create jobs here at home, and, as President Trump said, foreign students who graduate from American colleges “should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay.” These policies will prioritize for admission those migrants who contribute most to our economy, help our leading tech innovators close the STEM talent gap, and amplify economic growth.

Conclusion

Given the rapid pace of AI development and global competition, the actions outlined in this letter are urgent to preserve and extend American AI leadership. The strategic decisions that you make will significantly shape the landscape of AI technologies and their impact on American society and our economy.

We appreciate your consideration of our recommendations and stand ready to collaborate with the Trump administration to shape a future where AI benefits all Americans.