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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Remarks at Inaugural AI Honors Dinner and Awards Ceremony Announces New Center for AI Standards and Innovation

June 4, 2025 By WHC Insider

CALLS FOR GUESTS IN THE ROOM TO DRIVE CHANGE

In remarks at the inaugural AI Honors hosted by the Washington AI Network, Commerce Secretary Lutnick described how the Trump Commerce Department will handle industry standards after the late afternoon announcement by President Trump that he is closing the U.S. Safety Institute set up by the Biden Administration. “So let’s embrace what we’re great at and we are announcing the Center for AI Standards and Innovation to be the standards, to be a standards place, to be a place where people voluntarily go to drive analysis and standards.”

On Tuesday, June 3rd, the Washington AI Network convened technologists, policymakers, media and other influencers at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria to celebrate the inaugural AI Honors Black Tie Gala. The brightest minds in tech and AI policy came together for an evening that reminded us why we’re so excited about the future of AI. 

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 03: (L-R) The Hon. Howard Lutnick and Tammy Haddad, Founder, Washington AI Network, CEO, Haddad Media, attend AI Honors hosted by the Washington AI Network at Waldorf Astoria on June 03, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Haddad Media)

Lutnick also talked about Trump’s next push, “So let our great allies participate with us in the AI industrial revolution. Let them buy our ships, let them invest in data centers. And here’s the model. The data center has to be operated by an approved operator. Now obviously those approved operators, there’ll be all the large US hyperscalers of course, but other companies can apply and they can be operators as well on a smaller scale if they wish, but only operated by great American companies. The cloud associated with those data centers also has to be operated by American companies.”

CALL TO ACTION FOR ATTENDEES

“And I’m going to need the people in this room to be the drivers of that outcome because America needs that outcome. Because we are going to train millions of Americans in what I’ll describe as trade craft, because we need technicians who can do closed-loop HVAC systems and cooling systems. We need electricians, we need robot technicians, we need manufacturing. We need to build and operate the greatest automation build in the history of modern mankind. And that is coming to America. And that is part of what is going to drive, it’s going to drive America.”

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