Sriram Krishnan, the outgoing White House technology adviser, has told the Financial Times that President Donald Trump will never back the creation of a federal AI regulator. Krishnan said the president is opposed to government intervention in artificial intelligence — a firm stance that arrives as a growing backlash against the technology tests Washington's hands-off posture.
A Clear Line from the White House
The word "never" carries specific weight when delivered by someone leaving an advisory role rather than defending one. Krishnan's comments to the FT amount to a closing statement on the administration's philosophy: Washington will not replicate the regulatory agency model for AI, regardless of what pressure builds on Capitol Hill or in public opinion. That position forecloses one of the more consequential policy debates in the technology sector — whether the US needs a dedicated federal body to oversee artificial intelligence development and deployment.
What No Regulator Means for the Industry
The absence of a federal AI regulator is not a neutral outcome. It is, commercially, a significant advantage for the companies building and selling AI systems at scale. Without a central oversight body, enforcement falls to existing agencies working from existing mandates — a fragmented approach that typically moves more slowly and hits narrower targets than purpose-built regulation. For AI developers, that means a longer runway before compliance costs materialize and fewer structural constraints on how products are designed or deployed. The tradeoff, as the backlash Krishnan acknowledged makes plain, is that political risk continues to accumulate the longer the governance vacuum persists.
The Backlash Variable
Krishnan's acknowledgment that AI backlash is growing is notable precisely because it sits alongside an unqualified rejection of regulatory response. The administration's implicit argument is that market and competitive forces — not a government body — should shape how the technology matures. Whether that argument holds as public sentiment shifts is the question the industry now has to price into its own planning, with or without Washington in the room.