Trump plans 'Tech Corps' to promote AI abroad, gain edge over China

By Hadriana Lowenkron and Maggie Eastland

 

The Trump administration is planning a new Peace Corps initiative that would send thousands of US science and math graduates abroad to boost foreign countries’ reliance on American technology and reduce global adoption of competing products from China, according to a US official. 

Called the Tech Corps, the programme would deploy as many as 5,000 American volunteers and advisers over the next five years to Peace Corps partner nations, the official said. It will seek to steer countries toward US artificial intelligence hardware and software and away from technology made in China, the main US rival in AI.

 

 

White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios plans to announce the venture on Friday at the India AI Impact Summit, the official said. The program is intended to give the six-decade-old Peace Corps a new sense of purpose in a tech-driven era, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

 

“To further enable AI adoption in the developing world, the Trump administration is bringing America’s historic Peace Corps into the 21st century with the launch of the Tech Corps,” Kratsios plans to say, according to an advance copy of his remarks. “This new initiative will embed volunteer technical talent with import partners to provide last-mile support in deploying powerful AI applications for enhanced public services.”

 

At the summit, Kratsios is also expected to highlight US plans for an AI Agent Standards Initiative that would facilitate development of an industry-led, open, and secure AI agent as well as a National Champion Initiative that would integrate companies in partner nations with American technology.

 

Winning the global AI race ranks as a top priority for President Donald Trump, who has sought to increase US exports of related technology, including advanced processors from Nvidia Corp. The Peace Corps tech venture aims to beat China to the punch on AI by countering Beijing’s long-standing practice of offering to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure in South America, Africa and parts of Europe.

 

Founded in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War, the Peace Corps has functioned as an instrument of goodwill diplomacy for the US. Last year, more than 3,000 volunteers served in 60-plus countries on projects ranging from agriculture to health care and the environment, according to the agency. Adding the tech initiative would mark a significant expansion of its mandate.

 

Many details about the tech program remained unclear ahead of the announcement, including which countries would participate and how it would affect existing Peace Corps operations. Funding for the Tech Corps would include contributions from corporations and charities, the official said. For fiscal year 2026, the agency received $410 million from Congress under spending legislation signed by Trump earlier this month.

 

Recruitment and training of tech volunteers is set to begin this year, the official said, with a goal of attracting 500 professionals for the first cohort. The State Department and financing agencies like the Development Finance Corporation and Export-Import Bank will introduce new financing opportunities for enabling American AI adoption around the world, while host country ministries will coordinate to send volunteers to locations seeking to adopt AI, the official said.

 

Empowering the Peace Corps to carry out Trump’s tech agenda would intensify competition with China across the Global South, where Chinese tech companies are making inroads with lower-cost products, including large-language models from DeepSeek. Beijing’s approach on AI borrows from its earlier Digital Silk Road initiative, in which Chinese companies built telecommunications networks spanning various continents.

 

During Trump’s first term, Kratsios traveled around the world trying to persuade US allies to strip out Huawei Technologies Co. equipment. The administration is now trying to jump start a previously announced effort, dubbed the American AI Exports Program, offering nations bundles of chips, servers, AI models, cloud services and networking. Trump established the program in a July executive order.

 

The Tech Corps aims to build on that plan by providing volunteers to countries that lack national AI strategies or operational capacity to adopt AI solutions. In addition to volunteers in overseas roles, the US also plans to tap senior experts for advisory roles to remotely oversee and mentor those working in the field.