The article argues that the Trump administration is not deregulating artificial intelligence (AI), but shifting its management to the federal level through preemption over the states.[2] This policy is presented as removing bureaucratic obstacles to US technological dominance, but it involves intensive state intervention through industrial policy, trade restrictions, immigration control, stakes in private firms, and the redirection of research funding.[2] Such measures affect scientific research by changing the sources of knowledge and the questions that are asked about the consequences of technologies.[2] The administration destroys standards of transparent governance and public oversight, creating a less transparent and democratically accountable regulatory regime.[2] According to political economist Dani Rodrik, this is a hidden industrial policy without a strategic framework.[2] These early decisions set the infrastructure for US AI research, development, and deployment for decades to come.[2]