'I'm the AI': Biden on Artificial Intelligence, Then Trump Revokes His AI Order and Bans 'Woke AI' (July 21, 2023)

President Joe Biden walked into the Roosevelt Room to talk about artificial intelligence and opened with a joke. “I’m the AI,” he said, to laughter. “If any of you think I’m Abe Lincoln, blame it on the AI.” [1]

The pool reported the setup: “After a reporter jokingly asked tech executives whether they were real or AI, POTUS entered the room and quipped: ‘I’m the AI.’” [2]

Then Biden described the technology. “Artificial intelligence or—it promises an enormous—an enormous—promise of both risk to our society and our economy and our national security, but also incredible opportunities—incredible opportunities,” he said [1].

The video above shows Biden’s July 21, 2023, remarks. Quotes are from the official transcript and pool reports published by the American Presidency Project [1][2].

”Voluntary Commitments”

Biden had news. “And today I’m pleased to announce that these seven companies have agreed to voluntary commitments for responsible innovation,” he said. “These commitments are real, and they’re concrete.” [1]

The White House listed the executives in the room: from Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, Inflection AI, Meta, OpenAI and Amazon Web Services [2]. The pool noted that the seven tech leaders were “all men, all wearing suits and ties” [2].

”Innovention”

The transcript needed a correction. Biden said his administration had unveiled “a new strategy to establish seven new AI research institutes to help drive breakthroughs in responsible AI innovention [innovation; White House correction]” [1].

Near the end, the transcript notes that “the President cleared his throat” before he went on: “——and their partnership—excuse me—and their commitments that they’re making,” Biden said [1].

”Some New Laws, Regulations, and Oversight”

Biden said the promises were only a start. “These commitments are a promising step, but the—we have a lot more work to do together. Realizing the promise of AI by managing the risk is going to require some new laws, regulations, and oversight,” he said [1].

“In the weeks ahead, I’m going to continue to take executive action to help America lead the way toward responsible innovation,” Biden said [1].

”Algorithms That Discriminate”

Biden listed what his administration had already done. “Last October, we introduced the first-of-its-kind AI Bill of Rights. In February, I signed an Executive order to direct agencies to protect the public from algorithms that discriminate,” he said [1].

He also took aim at social media. “Social media has shown us the harm that powerful technology can do without the right safeguards in place,” Biden said [1].

No Answer on China

When Biden finished, a reporter asked: “Mr. President, can you tell us about the hacking of Cabinet officials by China and the threshold of concern you have about that sir?” [1]

“When POTUS finished, Kelly O’Donnell of NBC News asked him about the hacking of cabinet officials by China but he continued walking towards the door and exited without responding,” the pooler wrote [2].

By the Numbers

7: AI companies that signed the commitments [1].
3: principles Biden named: “safety, security, and trust” [1].
5½ minutes: how long Biden spoke, per the pool [2].
Oct. 30, 2023: the date of Biden’s AI executive order [3].
$500 billion: the AI investment Trump announced in 2025 [5].
July 23, 2025: the day Trump signed the “Preventing Woke AI” order [6].

What Happened Next

Biden signed an AI order, and Trump revoked it. On his first day back, Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump rescinded “Executive Order 14110 of October 30, 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence)” [3].

Three days later, Trump signed a new order. “This order revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation, clearing a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence,” it says. “To maintain this leadership, we must develop AI systems that are free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.” [4]

Trump’s Jan. 20 list also rescinded “Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government),” the February order Biden mentioned [3].

“Preventing Woke AI.” On July 23, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14319, “Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government.” It says that “when ideological biases or social agendas are built into AI models, they can distort the quality and accuracy of the output” [6].

The order gave an example: “one major AI model changed the race or sex of historical figures—including the Pope, the Founding Fathers, and Vikings—when prompted for images because it was trained to prioritize DEI requirements at the cost of accuracy” [6]. The White House said it directs agencies “to procure only large language models (LLMs) that adhere to ‘Unbiased AI Principles’” [7].

Stargate. On Jan. 21, 2025, Trump announced “a new American company that will invest $500 billion at least in AI infrastructure in the United States,” saying it would create “over 100,000 American jobs almost immediately” [5].

For an earlier White House AI exchange, see HYGO News’ page on Peter Doocy’s AI question.