Donald Trump winning the US election, for another term, now dubbed Trump 2.0, is expected to see AI grow in leaps and bounds under his term.
This comes as Trump is viewed as a hardliner and a no-nonsense man alongside his MAGA crew, but the markets are betting that under this regime, AI will develop faster after the Republican win last night. Like a child, AI will grow under permissive, rather than under the guidance of stricter parents.
Analysts are betting on a Trump 2.0 for AI
In the markets, Wedbush Securities told their clients that the Republican win must boost technology stocks and AI.
“We expect a very robust bullish market reaction this morning from a Trump win, with Big Tech and Tesla front and center,” analysts at the firm wrote in a note to clients.
“That said, we would expect a strong AI focus out of the gates from Trump for US Big Tech players, Khan out at the FTC and Musk’s big bet on Trump being a home run for Tesla.”
Wedbush Securities.
This is news as AI companies faced two dilemmas during this recent election. The now-former Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible for the AI policy direction under the Biden administration, and this is when the AI industry saw executive orders and like-minded policies.
However, some analysts have argued that these policies were not prohibitive but played checks and balances to bring transparency to the growing industry.
According to Axios, there are factors that are likely to combine and discourage federal efforts to set limits on AI tech. One of them is that traditional Republicans have always been skewed towards laissez-faire policies and hostile to regulation.
A Fortune article also concurs with Trump’s stance on AI regulation, as his election manifesto pledged to reverse Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI.
Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) headed by Lina Khan, a Biden appointee is expected to see major changes under Trump. Khan, who brought radical interpretation of antitrust to the commission, has been investigating big tech firms into AI like Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI over their deals and see if they violate anti-trust laws.
However, with Trump’s presidency, the Fortune article predicts that both Khan and her investigations are unlikely to return.
Trump’s presidency excites the crypto market as well
Not only AI is benefiting from a Trump election win as the price of Bitcoin hit a new high on Wednesday as well as all stocks related to cryptocurrency. This is because investors are predicting that a Trump presidency will be a launchpad for cryptocurrencies.
In the early trading of Wednesday, Bitcoin surged about 8%, reaching about $75,000, breaking its March 2024 record, before it cooled down to around $73,000. Ether, the second most popular cryptocurrency in the world also recorded gains among other cryptocurrencies like Elon Musk’s favorite, Dogecoin.
Companies linked to cryptocurrency saw their shares jump on the Republican win. Coinbase which is arguably the biggest cryptocurrency exchange saw its shares gain 17%, with online brokerage which offers crypto trading, Robinhood Markets jumping 12% as MicroStrategy the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin saw its shares soar by 10%.
President Trump has been known as a critic of digital currencies from his first term in office, but during the campaign period, he vowed to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet” and make a strategic reserve of bitcoin.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell believes that Bitcoin has always been an asset that would benefit from a Trump Presidency because he declared his love for the digital currency.
He also asserted that crypto traders now have new motivation to be even more excited about the new direction of the asset’s price.
While Republicans believe in free reign, which is a good policy direction for AI companies as the new administration is not a fan of strict regulation, AI creators and leaders are of the consensus that the technology needs checks and balances as it can be used for good or bad.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is reported to have told a developers’ event in London that “working on these models definitely feels like being on the side of the angels.”
Some of the critics of the technology raise arguments that they are for the human race and preventing it from hostile technology like AI.
“I fear that [Trump’s return] will lead to further deregulation of the tech sector resulting in detrimental impact on human rights worldwide,” said Professor Sandra Wachter of the Oxford Internet Institute, a leading figure in the study of tech and regulation.
“I worry about unsafe, inaccurate, biased, and opaque AI used for hiring, school admission, loan decisions and healthcare,” she added.
