Ethnonationalism by Algorithm

In the United States, artificial intelligence (“AI”) policy has become a critical arena for ethnonationalism—an ideology that defines national belonging through shared ancestry, culture, and language. Amid rapid demographic change and cultural anxiety, the second Trump Administration has harnessed federal AI governance to advance its broader agenda of dismantling diversity — most notably through Executive Order 14,179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” and related legal directives. By eliminating safeguards against algorithmic bias and recasting equity as an ideological threat to innovation, the policies facilitate exclusion under the guise of neutrality. These moves are not merely deregulatory; they represent a coordinated legal strategy to encode ethnonationalist priorities into the infrastructure of the future. By defaulting to dominant patterns, unregulated AI systems reproduce racial inequality and suppress cultural pluralism. This article offers the first sustained legal analysis of how the Trump Administration’s AI agenda advances its broader ethnonationalist project. It also proposes an alternative: the Equitable AI in Government Act, a legislative framework to embed democratic values — fairness, pluralism, authenticity, and autonomy—into the acquisition and use of AI by federal agencies and contractors. While the Act does not address every harm posed by private-sector AI, public institutions are the right starting point: they bear a unique obligation to serve a diverse public and can shape AI norms. This article reframes AI law as central to the legal architecture of a racially inclusive democracy.

Spencer Overton is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor and the founder and faculty director of the Multiracial Democracy Project at GW Law School. He is the author of the book “Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression” and several law review articles on technology, race, and democracy, including “Analyzing the Benefits of AI to Racially Inclusive Democracy,” “Overcoming Racial Harms to Democracy from AI,” “Ethnonationalism by Algorithm,” “State Power to Regulate Social Media Companies to Prevent Voter Suppression,” and “The Implications of Section 230 for Black Communities.” Professor Overton served in senior democracy policy positions on the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, transition team, and in the Obama Administration. He also served for nine years as president of and rebuilt the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies — America’s Black think tank. Overton practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton, clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Damon Keith, and graduated with honors from both Hampton University and  Harvard Law School.