What Trump 2.0 means for tech and AI regulation

A second Trump administration could reshape U.S. and global tech industries, with deregulation, artificial intelligence safety and Elon Musk’s growing influence at the forefront. These potential shifts were discussed at Lisbon’s Web Summit during the Nov. 12 session “A New Trump Era,” moderated by NPR CEO Katherine Maher.

“Pod Save the People” host DeRay Mckesson and “West Wing” actor Richard Schiff explored how Trump’s second presidency might impact the tech world. Schiff began the session by comparing tech’s growing influence to that of the oil industry, highlighting its ability to drive policy and accumulate wealth.

“I think Elon Musk has already doubled his wealth since last Tuesday,” he said. “And tech to me . . . might very likely be the new oil in that it's going to affect policy because the money is there and the power is there.” 

Schiff said he doubted the Trump administration would regulate tech or address monopolies, a stance he said benefits the industry but raises equity concerns.

“The most important tech person in the world has now become the shadow vice president and, if not more, so I think the tech industry is going to get whatever they want,” he said, referring to Musk. “Are we going to stop monopolies? Probably not. Are we going to regulate? Probably not. Maybe that's great for tech, I don't know. I don't know how good it is for the world, the country.”

Mckesson turned the conversation to Musk’s leadership, criticizing his tenure at X for making the platform more ideological, despite Musk’s claims to oppose such tendencies. He compared Musk’s polarizing approach to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growing reputation as a more moderate leader.

“[Zuckerberg] was a villain for so long in Silicon Valley,” Mckesson said. “Now, he's sort of the sane person left standing, it seems. So it'll be interesting to see what he does with WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook — these places that are in the ecosystem that is not Twitter.”

Maher then shifted the discussion to AI, asking whether a stronger AI sector could bolster national security. Schiff offered a cultural perspective, suggesting that tough times often ignite creativity.

“The silver lining, for me, might be that in authoritarian societies, the best art comes out of the more compressed artists feel, the more expression they end up having,” he said. “There's that darkness that there's light somewhere.” 

Musk’s role in the Trump administration

At a Nov. 13 panel titled “Did Elon Musk Destroy Twitter?” panelists examined Musk’s leadership style and its implications as the proposed head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Kate Conger, a New York Times tech reporter, argued Musk’s drastic cost-cutting measures at X could serve as a blueprint for how he might address federal bureaucracy.

“Musk's campaign to downsize Twitter is really a model for what he wants to do for the federal government, and in a lot of ways, it's empowered him to pursue this role,” she said. 

She pointed to Musk’s perceived success in maintaining X operations after massive layoffs that gutted 75% of the workforce.

“Despite some small outages, it still has continued to run, and so he must feel very empowered by that and feels that he can make these deep cuts to the government and bureaucracy,” she said

Ryan Mac, another New York Times tech reporter, brought up Musk’s potential conflicts of interest leading DOGE. Tesla and SpaceX, both of which rely on federal contracts, are under at least 20 federal investigations, according to NYT reporting, he said. As DOGE head, Musk could wield significant influence over the agencies regulating his companies, Mac added.

“If there is a situation at the [Federal Aviation Administration], which oversees Tesla and SpaceX, could [Musk] have his finger on the scale to change what the FAA does?” Mac asked. “We just don't know. I think that potential is pretty scary.”

AI policy and power concentration

Trump has suggested rolling back President Joe Biden's 2023 executive order on AI, a move that could shutter the U.S. AI Safety Institute. Part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the institute addresses risks to national security, public safety and individual rights.

During the panel “Is AI the Answer or the Problem?” Bloomberg tech columnist Parmy Olson explored whether Musk’s outspoken concerns about AI risks might influence Trump to adopt stricter AI policies instead of loosening regulations to compete with China. She asked MIT professor Max Tegmark if Musk’s views could shape Trump’s approach to AI governance.

“I hope so,” Tegmark said, stressing the need to educate leaders about AI’s dangers. “You don't actually need to persuade them that they shouldn't want to be replaced by and dominated by some new weird machine species. They are already against that. It's just a matter of education.” 

Tegmark expressed optimism that Musk could help Trump grasp the national security risks posed by uncontrolled AI and the economic importance of building safe, manageable AI.

“I'm definitely hoping that Elon can help Donald Trump understand that this is just not in America's national security interests that American companies build something that we lose control over in two years, and that the real path to prosperity in America and even strength is to build AI tools that can be controlled,” he said. 

Olson also highlighted the growing concentration of AI power, pointing out how companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google are snapping up smaller startups. Tegmark identified two major risks: the dominance of a few companies and humanity losing control over powerful AI systems.

Despite these concerns, Tegmark ended on a hopeful note, highlighting AI’s potential to solve global challenges if developed responsibly.

“With AI, there's so many things we would love to do but just haven't figured out how to do — prevent our loved ones from dying of diseases and safeguard our climate and so on and so forth,” he said. “And if we can get this right with tool AI, we can have a more amazing future than we ever dreamt of.”

This year’s Web Summit attracted over 71,500 attendees from around the globe, according to a LinkedIn post by the event's organizers, including industry leaders, policymakers and innovators.