Executive Order 13859, signed by President Trump and published in the Federal Register on February 11, 2019, established the "American AI Initiative," the first Trump-era executive order on artificial intelligence. It set out the administration's AI policy posture, prioritizing American leadership, innovation, and competitive advantage while directing agencies to reduce regulatory barriers.
Source: President Trump, Federal Register, February 11, 2019
Five guiding principles
The order articulated five guiding principles:
- Drive technological breakthroughs across government, industry, and academia
- Develop appropriate technical standards and reduce barriers to safe deployment
- Train current and future workers with AI skills
- Foster public trust and protect civil liberties, privacy, and American values
- Promote an international environment supporting American AI while protecting against strategic competitors
Six strategic objectives
It set six strategic objectives:
- Promote sustained AI R&D investment through Federal-private-academic collaboration
- Enhance access to high-quality Federal data, models, and computing resources
- Reduce barriers to use of AI technologies
- Ensure technical standards minimize vulnerability to attacks; develop international standards
- Train next-generation AI researchers and users through STEM programs
- Develop and implement an action plan to protect US AI advantage against strategic competitors
Key provisions
The order directed all "implementing agencies" to treat AI as an R&D priority in budgeting. It tasked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with publishing a notice inviting public input on improving Federal data access for AI R&D, and with issuing a memorandum guiding agencies on AI regulation focused on reducing barriers while protecting civil liberties. It directed NIST to develop a plan for Federal engagement in AI technical standards development, work that produced the NIST AI RMF 1.0. It made AI a priority in Federal fellowship, scholarship, and education programs, and called for an NSA-coordinated classified action plan to protect the US AI advantage.
Relation to later AI policy
EO 13859 (2019) preceded a sequence of subsequent AI executive actions: the Biden administration's EO 14110 (2023), a comprehensive safety and rights-focused framework later rescinded by Trump; EO 14365 (2025), which addressed Federal preemption of state AI laws and established a litigation task force; and America's AI Action Plan (2025), a three-pillar strategy document. The 2019 order's emphasis on reducing regulatory barriers and protecting competitive advantage against strategic competitors established framing that the 2025 documents extended into explicit deregulation and state preemption.
The order's direction to NIST to develop AI standards produced the NIST AI RMF 1.0. The 2025 AI Action Plan directs NIST to revise that framework to remove references to misinformation, DEI, and climate change.