As the Right works to refine its stance on artificial intelligence, several coalitions are competing for the president’s attention, artificial intelligence experts tell The Daily Signal. 

“Right now, behind the scenes, this is by far the most brutal fight in Washington,” former Chief White House Strategist Steve Bannon told The Daily Signal.

Because the stakes are high and AI regulation is a relatively new issue, the Right hasn’t determined what the unified conservative position should be. AI is “one of the most controversial issues right now in the Trump administration,” a source familiar with the administration’s thinking on AI said. 

“What that combination of those factors means is that it’s extremely controversial, and Big Tech interests are definitely extremely involved in this process and want to do anything to ensure that AI policies are created that help the bottom line,” the source said. 

An administration official familiar with the matter agreed AI is one of the most contentious issues facing the administration, saying the subject is “only controversial because of the way people are pushing for it and where those people come from.”

The lines were clearly drawn after Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 11, ordering the attorney general to establish an AI litigation task force that would challenge state efforts to regulate AI. 

The president directed White House AI czar David Sacks and Michael Kratsios, science and technology adviser to the president, to recommend federal AI legislation preempting any state laws in conflict with administration policy–drawing backlash from conservatives like Gov. Ron DeSantis and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

“Behind the scenes, this battle of AI regulation dwarfs everything else,” Bannon said.

The AI issue is bringing to the surface some of the wedge issues within the broader coalition that helped elect the president, said Tim Estes, founder of AngelQ, which seeks to use AI to make the internet safer for kids. 

“The real division is between the free-market extremists up against the new right part of the coalition, which is going after protecting blue-collar jobs and rebuilding the manufacturing base,” Estes told The Daily Signal, “and the pro-family side that views, essentially, human dignity as the primary principle all things are built on, including economic freedom.”

The pro-family side has made an alliance with the populist side and the national security side, which is concerned about Chinese influence in AI, according to Estes. 

“These are three parts of the Trump coalition that actually are not aligned with the tech accelerationist crowd, and it represents the vast majority of the base, 80% plus,” Estes said. “And then you’ve got a small contingent that really is libertarian, plus the opportunistic tech community.” 

“I’m not seeing a principled conservative leader get up and argue that acceleration is worth all these damages along the way,” he added. 

On paper, the accelerationist coalition is by far the strongest, Bannon said. 

“The accelerationists have deep roots into the White Office of Technology Policy—plus Elon and David Sacks, the crypto czar,” Bannon said.

Some tech experts believe Marc Andreessen of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is leading the accelerationist AI movement in the Republican Party. Andreessen, a former........

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