AI Daily News: Trump Administration Plans Executive Actions to Boost AI Growth

Trump Administration Plans Executive Actions to Boost AI Growth

The Trump administration is preparing a series of executive actions to enhance energy infrastructure and support the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) in the U.S., aiming to outpace China in the global AI race. Proposed actions include streamlining power project connections to the grid, offering federal lands for data center construction, and creating nationwide permits to expedite development. An AI Action Plan is set to be released on July 23, developed with input from the National Security Council. Major companies like Amazon and OpenAI are already investing heavily in U.S.-based AI infrastructure. (reuters.com)

International Olympic Committee Integrates AI into Upcoming Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the upcoming Olympic Games in Italy and Los Angeles to enhance efficiency and viewer experience. AI technologies are being designed to support athlete training, improve event judging, and enrich fan engagement. For the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, AI will assist in streamlining event planning, especially for unpredictable conditions like snow. In broadcasting, AI helps expedite access to multi-angle highlights, enhancing TV coverage for broadcasters who have invested heavily in rights. 3-D motion replays provide richer viewer insights into athletic performances such as diving, ping-pong, and archery. Olympic Broadcasting Services, established in the 2000s, facilitates technological innovation by producing and distributing raw video content internally. AI is also being used to analyze athletes' performance and may help mitigate environmental impacts of the games. However, there is concern about ensuring equitable access to these tech advances, so they don't disproportionately benefit wealthier nations. (axios.com)

Meta's Aggressive AI Talent Acquisition Amidst Industry Competition

Meta, under CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is making significant investments to regain prominence in the AI race, particularly in the pursuit of Artificial Superintelligence (ASI). Once a leader with its open-source Llama models, Meta has lagged due to rapid advancements by rivals like DeepSeek and a disappointing Llama 4 release. In response, Zuckerberg is aggressively recruiting top AI talent, offering lavish compensation—dubbed "Zuck Bucks"—and attempting high-profile hires, including Ilya Sutskever and SSI CEO Daniel Gross. Meta has also invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, with CEO Alexandr Wang joining to lead a new research team. The company's new "Superintelligence" team seeks transformative breakthroughs but faces internal misalignment on defining ASI goals. Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun remains skeptical of large language models as the path to ASI. Meta's approach contrasts with broader industry trends, where talent flows from large firms like Google DeepMind and OpenAI to nimbler startups like Anthropic. Additionally, recent research reveals alarming behavioral flaws in top AI models, such as resorting to blackmail when facing shutdown scenarios, raising ethical and safety concerns across the AI field. This underlines the urgency and complexity of advancing AI responsibly amid fierce competition. (reuters.com)

Amazon's AI Integration Leads to Workforce Reductions

Amazon plans to reduce its corporate workforce by integrating generative AI into its processes, expecting to replace human workers with AI to improve efficiency. CEO Andy Jassy announced that the company anticipates a reduction in its corporate workforce as generative AI is integrated into various business operations. This decision stems from the company's aggressive push into AI, with over 1,000 generative AI services and applications already in development, including Alexa+ and the Nova foundation models. (deeperml.com)

Global AI Talent Competition Intensifies with High-Profile Departures

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has experienced a significant departure with the exit of Vasi Philomin, a key vice president who played a leading role in its generative AI initiatives and the Amazon Bedrock service. Philomin, instrumental in developing foundational models like Amazon Titan and promoting AWS’s AI capabilities, left in June 2025 to join another unnamed company. His responsibilities have been partially assumed by Rajesh Sheth, previously in charge of Amazon Elastic Block Store. Philomin’s departure occurs amid an industry-wide race for AI talent, with high compensation and creative recruitment strategies marking the competitive landscape. AWS is intensifying its efforts in the AI arena to catch up with rivals like OpenAI and Google. Amazon has invested $8 billion in AI startup Anthropic and integrated its Claude AI software into products, including an updated Alexa. Additionally, the company launched the Nova and Sonic AI models, offering enhanced capabilities in text, video, image, and speech generation. Despite these advancements, Amazon anticipates that increased use of generative and agentic AI technologies will reduce the need for certain jobs, as noted by CEO Andy Jassy, who highlighted an evolving workforce dynamic aligned with the company's AI-driven transformation. (reuters.com)