Elon Musk speaks virtually during the G20 Innovation Ministerial on Tuesday. Photo: Cornell Watson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Trump administration officials came to this week's G20 innovation summit to project a united front on U.S. AI leadership. But tensions between the Commerce Department and the White House's tech policy shop are playing out behind the scenes.
Why it matters: The Trump administration wants the world to follow its lead on AI policy, even as it grapples with divisions at home.
Driving the news: The G20 Innovation Ministerial on Tuesday and Wednesday features some of the tech industry's heaviest hitters and officials from the world's most powerful countries.
The intrigue: The Commerce Department and OSTP are jockeying for influence over the administration's AI policy agenda. Key regulatory decisions remain unsettled as the U.S. tries to present a clear message abroad.
Behind the scenes: The summit's first day highlighted the divide between OSTP and Commerce, including how they view each other and an apparent messaging miscue over data centers.
In an interview with Axios' Mike Allen, Lutnick emphasized that his guests will appear in person.
"We're one team," Kratsios told reporters on Tuesday.
Tension point: The apparent lack of coordination between OSTP and Commerce spilled into the summit's messaging on data centers, a fraught political issue for the administration.
The big picture: The U.S. is pushing other countries to hold off on AI regulation, even as the Trump administration debates its own approach to overseeing the most advanced models.
What they're saying: Leading up to the summit, a White House official told Reuters that "the U.S. will press member countries not to set up new regulatory organizations to oversee AI development."
The bottom line: The future of AI regulation on a global scale is playing out amid D.C. power struggles.
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