Sixteen months ago, when DeepSeek had Washington reaching for the panic button, and everyone was demanding America's "Sputnik moment" in artificial intelligence, I argued that we were framing it wrong. The space race was a sprint to a physical destination. AI is not. It is a transformative power that will reshape the economy, the military, and daily life for decades to come. The real race was never against China; it was against the irresponsible development of a technology that will remake civilization. I said America should lead with wisdom, not fear.
Recently, President Trump signed an executive order that may finally kick off that shift.
"Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security" is the most clear-eyed AI policy this administration has produced. I run an AI marketing technology company that builds AI into every communication channel, our customer platforms, and our own development workflows. We are exactly the company this order is designed to protect and empower. I am also a charter member of the National AI Association and have spent over 20 years protecting American businesses from digital disruption. So when I tell you this order gets the balance right, I'm telling you as a practitioner, not a pundit.
Here is what it actually does.
This Executive Order promotes advanced AI innovation while directing agencies, particularly CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the federal government's lead civilian cybersecurity agency, to strengthen cybersecurity, protect critical infrastructure, and deploy AI-enabled defensive tools across government and industry. Most importantly, it establishes a voluntary process for frontier AI companies to share advanced models with CISA for security testing before release.
It aims to put the world's most powerful AI tools in the hands of those who need them most. Small and mid-cap forms like mine will be able to use the most powerful AI tools with confidence. Rural hospitals, community banks, and local utilities that face the same hackers and AI-powered attacks as the Fortune 500, but with a sliver of the security budget, would be empowered to use the latest advances. Giving them the same shield the big guys already have is the most America First thing in the document. It is AI For The Little Guy, and it is exactly right.
It builds cooperation rather than issuing a permission slip. Section 3(c) states flatly that nothing in the order authorizes "a mandatory governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement" for AI models. No federal gatekeeper will stand between American innovators and their work. That is the right call.
But let me be clear, because I am nobody's idea of a no-guardrails zealot. The absence of a government mandate is not the absence of standards; it is the opposite. When Washington steps back, the responsibility for getting this right doesn't vanish. It lands on the people who build the technology. On us. That is exactly where it belongs, and exactly where it is hardest to dodge.
That is what makes the voluntary framework so smart. The government is offering to help secure frontier models and coordinate the defense of critical infrastructure. American companies should take that hand, and then go further. AI that's been hardened and "CISA-certified" is AI the market can trust. Companies should be able to say so loudly. Security isn't a box to check quietly; it's a banner to fly.
Which brings me to the next step, the one government cannot take for us, and shouldn't. We need a citizen-led standard that certifies AI built and operated in the service of humanity: secure, transparent, accountable, and aligned with human dignity and individual liberty. Not a federal license. A mark of trust, earned in the market and recognized by it. That is why we launched In Service of Humanity, a 501 (c) (3) with a mission to develop a certification for AI systems that meet that bar.
National defense is the government's primary role, and it can help secure the perimeter. But only we (humans) can determine what AI serving humanity actually means.
Make no mistake about the shift this represents. The early posture carried that Sputnik intensity I warned about: move fast, build big, beat Beijing at any cost. That urgency was understandable, and President Trump was right to respond with energy. His instinct to unleash American innovation rather than strangle it in red tape is why we lead the world right now. But a Sputnik race is a sprint, and you cannot sprint a marathon.
AI isn't a finish line we cross and forget; it is a permanent fixture of American life. What this order signals is maturity, the move from "win at all costs" to "win and keep winning." Voluntary frameworks. Public-private trust. Cybersecurity coordination. Workforce development. These are not the tools of panic, but of a country that intends to lead for a generation. Responsible growth was never the enemy of speed; it is what lets speed compound instead of burning out. President Trump and his team deserve real credit for arriving here.
Larry Ward is President of MarketRithm, Inc. and has spent over 20 years protecting American businesses from digital disruption. A pioneer of the parallel economy and ethical AI development, he serves as Chairman of In Service of Humanity, a 501(c)(3).
