After releasing the AI Action Plan for the United States, President Trump strongly supported fair use in AI training. He noted the national interest in developing AI and staying ahead of China, a country that will not require copyright licensing of all data in AI training.
Pres. Trump said it’s neither common sense nor workable to expect all content used to train AI to be licensed.
What we really need to be successful is a very simple phrase called common sense. And that begins with a common sense application of artificial and intellectual property rules. It’s so important.
You can’t be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you’ve read or studied, you’re supposed to pay for. Gee, I read a book. I’m supposed to pay somebody.
And you know, we appreciate that. But you just can’t do it because it’s not doable.
And if you’re going to try to do that, you’re not going to have a successful program.
I think most of the people in the room know what I mean. When a person reads a book or an article, you’ve gained great knowledge. That does not mean that you’re violating copyright laws or have to make deals with every content provider.
And that’s a big thing you’re working on right now, I know (speaking to audience).
But you just can’t do it.
China’s not doing it. And if you’re going to be beating China, and right now we’re leading China very substantially in AI, very, very substantially.
And nobody’s seen the amount of work that’s going to be bursting upon the scene. But you have to be able to play by the same set of rules.
So, when you have something, when you read something, and when it goes into this vast intelligence–machine we’ll call it, you cannot expect to every time, every single time say, oh, let’s pay this one that much. Let’s pay this one.
Just doesn’t work that way.
Of course, you can’t copy or plagiarize an article. But, if you read an article and learn from it, we have to allow AI to use that pool of knowledge without going through the complexity of contract negotiations of which there would be thousands for every time we use AI.
- President Trump on Jul. 23, 2025
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