Washington D.C. —The United States is entering a period in which technological capacity will determine economic strength, military readiness and national independence. Artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, robotics, nuclear energy, quantum computing, space systems and automated manufacturing are no longer isolated industries. They are becoming the infrastructure upon which nearly every other industry will depend.
The Trump administration has responded by treating technological development as a national industrial priority rather than merely another sector of the economy. Its policies are designed to remove barriers to construction, increase domestic energy production, restore American manufacturing, strengthen critical supply chains and provide companies with greater incentives to conduct research and build facilities inside the United States.
Taken together, these policies show an administration attempting to move at the same speed as the technological transformation already occurring around us.
America cannot lead the artificial-intelligence era while taking a decade to permit a power plant, depending on foreign countries for advanced computer chips or forcing companies to spread the cost of domestic research over several years. The administration’s developing strategy recognizes that software innovation alone is not enough. America must also possess the electricity, data centers, factories, minerals, skilled workers and transportation infrastructure required to support it.
Removing Barriers to American Artificial Intelligence
One of President Donald Trump’s first major technology actions after returning to office was Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” signed on January 23, 2025.
The order directed federal agencies to identify and remove policies considered unnecessarily restrictive to American AI development. It also ordered the preparation of a national AI action plan focused on preserving American leadership and strengthening economic and national security.
That strategy was expanded in July 2025 when the White House released America’s AI Action Plan. The plan was organized around three principal goals:
- Accelerating AI innovation and adoption.
- Building the physical infrastructure needed to support AI.
- Promoting American AI technology throughout the world.
The plan calls for removing federal regulatory barriers, encouraging private investment, expanding workforce training, increasing the availability of computing resources and accelerating construction of data centers and semiconductor facilities.
This represents an important change in how the federal government views the industry. Artificial intelligence is not being treated exclusively as a software product. It is being recognized as a complete industrial system requiring enormous quantities of electricity, advanced chips, cooling equipment, fiber-optic connections, construction labor and secure facilities.
That broader understanding matters because the countries capable of hosting AI infrastructure will receive much of the investment, employment and technological capacity created by the industry. Countries that cannot provide reliable energy or timely construction approvals will increasingly purchase technology developed and hosted elsewhere.
Accelerating Data-Center Construction
On July 23, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order intended to accelerate federal permitting for qualifying data centers and supporting infrastructure.
The order directs agencies to identify federal land that may be suitable for data-center development, streamline environmental reviews and assist projects that include power generation, transmission lines, substations, semiconductor manufacturing and related facilities.
The Department of Energy also identified federal sites with existing energy and transportation infrastructure that could support large AI and data-center developments. In April 2025, DOE announced 16 possible locations. It later selected four sites—Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Savannah River Site—to proceed toward private-sector development opportunities.
This approach could reduce one of the most serious obstacles facing the technology industry: the distance between announcing a project and actually building it.
A data center cannot operate on a press release. It needs available land, transmission capacity, water or alternative cooling systems, fiber connectivity and dependable electricity. By coordinating these requirements at the federal level, the administration is attempting to prevent major projects from becoming trapped among overlapping agencies and years of administrative review.
The administration has also stated that existing residential and small-business customers should not be forced to absorb the entire cost of powering new data centers. Its 2026 AI legislative framework called for permitting reforms that would allow more facilities to develop power generation on site, potentially reducing pressure on the surrounding electrical grid.
That distinction is important. Technological growth should expand the nation’s productive capacity—not simply transfer infrastructure expenses to households.
Expanding the Nation’s Energy Supply
Artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing are energy-intensive industries. A country may have talented engineers and successful technology companies, but without sufficient electricity, those companies will eventually build somewhere else.
The Trump administration has therefore tied its technology strategy to a broader energy-development policy.
Its January 2025 “Unleashing American Energy” order directed agencies to encourage domestic energy production, remove regulatory barriers and review policies believed to be restricting infrastructure development.
The administration has also placed particular emphasis on nuclear power.
On May 23, 2025, President Trump signed four executive orders addressing nuclear regulation, reactor testing, national-security applications and the domestic nuclear industrial base. The administration’s stated objective is to increase American nuclear generating capacity from approximately 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts by 2050.
The Department of Energy subsequently created a Reactor Pilot Program intended to move advanced reactor designs through testing and toward operation more rapidly. DOE initially selected 11 reactor projects for participation and has also worked to increase the availability of the specialized nuclear fuel required by some advanced designs.
Advanced nuclear power could become especially valuable to high-technology industries because it provides constant electrical output regardless of weather conditions. Small modular and advanced reactors may eventually be located near industrial campuses, military facilities, data centers or manufacturing regions.
Nuclear development will not solve every near-term energy problem. New reactors remain expensive, complicated and time-consuming to build, particularly when they are first-of-a-kind designs. The Department of Energy itself recognizes those challenges.
Nevertheless, the administration is addressing a problem that must be solved. The United States cannot dramatically expand artificial intelligence, semiconductor fabrication and advanced manufacturing without also expanding dependable electricity generation.
Restoring Domestic Semiconductor Production
Semiconductors are the physical foundation of the modern economy. They are found in automobiles, communications equipment, medical devices, weapons systems, appliances, industrial machinery and nearly every computing platform.
The Trump administration has continued federal efforts to expand semiconductor manufacturing while also placing greater emphasis on trade policy, domestic production commitments and national security.
The Department of Commerce describes its current semiconductor strategy as a government-wide effort to restore American manufacturing leadership. In January 2026, the administration announced measures concerning imports of certain advanced computing chips and signaled that broader semiconductor tariffs or tariff-offset programs could be used to encourage additional domestic production.
The administration has also negotiated with major technology companies over expanded American investment. TSMC announced an additional $100 billion commitment to U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturing, while Micron announced plans involving approximately $200 billion in American semiconductor manufacturing and research spending.
These announcements should be judged by the facilities that are ultimately completed, the equipment installed and the jobs created. Corporate investment commitments may unfold over many years and can change with market conditions.
Even so, the direction of policy is clear: advanced semiconductor production is being treated as strategic infrastructure.
The United States should not remain dependent on distant supply chains for the components controlling military systems, communications networks, automobiles and artificial-intelligence platforms. Domestic chip production provides economic benefits, but it also creates resilience during wars, natural disasters, trade disputes and international transportation disruptions.
It is also important to recognize that semiconductor expansion did not begin in 2025. Several current projects were initially supported or negotiated under earlier federal legislation and previous administrations. The Trump administration’s contribution should therefore be evaluated by how effectively it improves, renegotiates, accelerates and expands those projects—not by pretending that every factory announcement began after inauguration.
Making Domestic Research More Affordable
One of the administration’s most important technology policies received less public attention than its executive orders.
The tax legislation signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025, restored the ability of businesses to immediately deduct qualifying domestic research and experimental expenditures beginning in 2025. The Internal Revenue Service has confirmed that domestic research expenditures may once again be deducted rather than automatically spread across several future tax years.
This policy directly affects software companies, engineering firms, manufacturers, biotechnology companies, laboratories and small technology businesses.
Research is inherently uncertain. A company may spend millions developing a product that never reaches the market. Requiring that company to pay taxes as though the research expense had not fully occurred can reduce available cash precisely when the business needs capital to continue experimenting, hire engineers or purchase equipment.
Immediate expensing does not guarantee that every project will succeed. It does, however, reduce the tax penalty associated with conducting research inside the United States.
The legislation also restored or expanded immediate deductions for certain equipment and capital investments, allowing companies to recover the cost of modernization more rapidly.
For high-technology manufacturers, the timing of a deduction matters. A tax benefit received many years later is less useful than capital available when a company is deciding where to build its next facility.
Securing Critical Minerals and Industrial Materials
High-tech industries begin with raw materials.
Semiconductor fabrication, batteries, permanent magnets, advanced electronics, aerospace systems, electrical transformers and military equipment all depend on minerals that are frequently mined or processed outside the United States.
In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing agencies to accelerate domestic mineral production and improve access to federal lands, financing and permitting programs. The administration also advanced selected critical-mineral projects through the federal permitting process.
A separate April 2025 action ordered a national-security investigation into American dependence on imported processed critical minerals and products containing those materials.
The administration has additionally pursued international agreements intended to diversify mineral supply chains, including cooperation with Japan involving mining, processing, batteries, magnets and other derivative products.
This is not simply a mining policy. It is an attempt to rebuild the lower levels of the industrial supply chain.
America cannot claim technological independence while importing nearly every essential input needed to produce advanced technology. A secure industrial system must include mineral extraction, refining, chemical processing, component production, final assembly and recycling.
Environmental protections and community concerns should remain part of project review. However, refusing to produce materials domestically does not eliminate mining. It frequently moves production to countries with weaker environmental standards, poorer working conditions and governments that may use supply access as geopolitical leverage.
Training the Next Generation
Technology policy cannot be sustained through machinery alone. It requires people capable of designing, operating, maintaining and repairing complex systems.
In April 2025, President Trump signed an executive order promoting artificial-intelligence education and workforce preparation. The order established a White House task force and called for expanded AI instruction, educator training, apprenticeships and industry partnerships.
This is an area in which state governments, community colleges, universities and employers will have to do much of the actual work.
The nation will need more electrical workers, nuclear operators, semiconductor technicians, machinists, cybersecurity specialists, software engineers, construction workers and telecommunications professionals. Not every high-tech job requires a four-year university degree. Many of the most important positions can be filled through technical education, paid apprenticeships, certifications and employer-sponsored training.
A successful technology policy should therefore create several paths into the industry rather than limiting opportunity to people with advanced academic credentials.
Expanding Technology Through Government Adoption
The federal government is also attempting to become a larger customer for American AI systems.
In April 2025, the Office of Management and Budget issued instructions intended to accelerate federal use and procurement of artificial intelligence while retaining safeguards involving privacy, civil rights and public trust.
Government purchasing can provide emerging companies with reliable demand and help agencies modernize outdated systems. AI could eventually improve logistics, detect fraud, process records, support medical research, analyze infrastructure and assist national-security operations.
However, federal adoption must be accompanied by serious oversight. Automated systems should not be permitted to make consequential decisions without accountability, testing or a clear method of human review.
Moving quickly does not require abandoning public responsibility. In fact, public trust will be necessary if advanced systems are to be widely adopted.
Space, Science and National Security
The administration’s high-technology agenda extends beyond artificial intelligence.
Its space policy calls for strengthening American commercial space activity, exploration, national security and the domestic space industrial base. A December 2025 executive order set objectives involving space leadership, commercial development and strategic superiority.
The administration also launched the Genesis Mission, an initiative intended to use artificial intelligence, federal scientific data and national-laboratory capabilities to accelerate scientific discovery.
In June 2026, President Trump issued another order addressing the security implications of advanced artificial intelligence and directing federal agencies to coordinate more closely with industry as increasingly capable systems are developed.
These policies reflect an understanding that scientific leadership, commercial technology and national defense are becoming inseparable.
The same computing systems used to discover medicines can also model weapons. The same satellites used for communications can support military intelligence. The same semiconductor factories serving consumer markets can be essential during a national emergency.
Technology policy must therefore protect innovation without ignoring security.
How These Policies Help American Communities
The immediate beneficiaries of a major technology project are not limited to the engineers working inside it.
A semiconductor factory creates demand for construction companies, electrical contractors, water-treatment systems, chemical suppliers, trucking firms, security providers, equipment technicians and local professional services.
A data center requires utilities, telecommunications infrastructure, backup power, cooling systems and continuous maintenance.
A nuclear project supports engineers and reactor specialists, but it also requires welders, pipefitters, inspectors, concrete suppliers, manufacturers and transportation providers.
These projects can produce several layers of economic activity:
- High-paying technical and skilled-trade employment.
- New customers for local businesses.
- Expansion of the property and income-tax base.
- Greater demand for housing and commercial development.
- Infrastructure improvements that can support additional employers.
- More domestic production of strategically important goods.
- Greater resilience against overseas supply disruptions.
The benefits are not automatic. Poorly planned developments can strain electrical systems, water supplies, roads and housing markets. Local governments must negotiate carefully, avoid excessive subsidies and ensure that infrastructure agreements protect existing residents.
Communities should not reject technological development merely because challenges exist. They should shape that development through enforceable agreements, transparent planning and long-term infrastructure investment.
What This Could Mean for Michigan
Michigan is positioned to benefit from this national shift, but only if state and local leaders are prepared to compete.
The state already possesses major advantages:
- A large advanced-manufacturing workforce.
- An extensive electrical and industrial infrastructure.
- Automotive engineering and robotics expertise.
- Research universities and technical colleges.
- Access to Great Lakes water and international transportation routes.
- Existing nuclear facilities and experience operating complex energy systems.
- Available industrial land in communities seeking redevelopment.
- Proximity to Canadian manufacturing and mineral supply chains.
Michigan could become a center for artificial-intelligence infrastructure, robotics, semiconductor packaging, autonomous systems, battery research, nuclear components, aerospace manufacturing and advanced materials.
However, these industries will not locate here because of history alone.
Michigan must offer predictable permitting, available electrical capacity, reliable telecommunications, prepared industrial sites and training programs connected to actual employers. Municipalities should establish appropriate high-technology industrial zoning before projects arrive, rather than improvising after a developer submits an application.
The state must also protect existing utility customers. Large technology facilities should be required to pay their fair share of grid expansion and should be encouraged to support new power generation rather than consuming capacity that communities already need.
The Trump administration may be opening the national door, but state and local governments must be prepared to walk through it.
Moving Government at the Speed of Technology
The most significant feature of the administration’s technology agenda is not any single executive order. It is the effort to align several previously disconnected policy areas.
Artificial intelligence policy is being connected to energy.
Energy is being connected to nuclear development and grid capacity.
Semiconductor policy is being connected to trade, manufacturing and national security.
Manufacturing is being connected to tax treatment, minerals and workforce preparation.
Data-center policy is being connected to permitting, federal land and on-site power generation.
This is what a serious industrial strategy looks like. It recognizes that technological leadership depends upon an entire ecosystem.
There are legitimate concerns that must remain part of the discussion. Tariffs can increase costs for American companies that still depend on imported components. Accelerated permitting can produce poor outcomes if environmental and community reviews become meaningless. Artificial intelligence requires protections involving privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property and automated decision-making. Large tax incentives must produce measurable domestic investment rather than simply increasing corporate profits.
Those concerns should improve the strategy—not become an excuse for paralysis.
The greater danger would be allowing every project to become trapped in an endless process while China and other competitors continue building power plants, factories, laboratories, ports and computing infrastructure.
America Must Build Again
For several decades, the United States often separated invention from production. American companies designed important technologies while factories, mineral processing and supply chains moved overseas.
That arrangement created lower costs in some areas, but it also created strategic vulnerability.
The Trump administration’s policies represent an effort to reunite American research with American production. By lowering barriers to AI development, accelerating infrastructure construction, restoring research deductions, expanding energy production, supporting nuclear power, strengthening mineral supply chains and encouraging semiconductor manufacturing, the administration is laying the physical foundation for another period of American technological growth.
Success will not be measured by the number of executive orders signed or investment figures announced.
It will be measured by factories completed, reactors brought online, engineers trained, patents commercialized, transmission capacity added and communities strengthened.
Technology is moving forward whether government is prepared or not. The central achievement of the administration’s approach is its recognition that public policy must stop standing still.
America does not need government to invent every new technology. It needs government to establish the conditions under which American workers, businesses, laboratories and investors can build the future here.
In that respect, the administration is not asking the country to wait for technological change.
It is attempting to move with us.
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