On February 26, 2026, Meridian International Center convened a Global Business Briefing with Mr. Brandon Remington, Deputy Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce, alongside Mr. Brien Beattie, Senior Principal at Amazon Web Services, to discuss Pillar III of the Administration’s AI Action Plan: Lead in International AI Diplomacy and Security. The briefing brought together leaders from government, business, and technology to explore how the United States can strengthen its leadership in international AI governance, diplomacy, and security. 

The discussion highlighted updates on implementation of the American AI Exports Program, the goals of this program, and the evolving global landscape for AI cooperation. Participants examined practical strategies for facilitating AI exports, forming industry consortia, and supporting American companies in navigating complex international markets — all while balancing innovation, competitiveness, and strategic objectives. 

Here Were the Top Takeaways from the Program:

1. Unlocking Hard-to-Reach Markets through Consortia

The American AI Exports Program, outlined in Pillar III, is not designed to replace market forces or facilitate deals American companies are already capable of making. Rather, the program aims to catalyze international deals that might otherwise be unlikely or infeasible. The core component of this program – the industry-led consortia – bundle hardware, software, and implementation support into streamlined, full-stack offerings that simplify procurement for global buyers. This simplified model helps U.S. firms overcome barriers like procurement complexity, regulatory uncertainty, and rival full stack offerings from other nations like China.  

2. Collaboration Between Government and Industry Is Key 

Public–private collaboration sits at the heart of the export program. Commerce’s model is explicitly industry-led; consortia of companies define full-stack export packages and federal agencies coordinate to back those offerings with market access, standards engagement, and deal support. This division of roles allows each side to do what it does best. Firms innovate and compete, and the U.S. government aligns policy, finance, and diplomacy so that trusted American AI technology can scale globally. 

3. Flexible Integration 

The AI Export Program is designed to meet countries where they are, whether they want to integrate strong domestic players or effectively “plug and play” a full American AI stack. In markets with homegrown talent and national champions, consortia allow partner country companies to be woven directly into customized export packages, so governments can build on American infrastructure while still nurturing local industry. For countries without a deep AI ecosystem, the same consortia model can deliver a complete, ready to deploy stack that can be adopted quickly and scaled as capacity grows. Across both scenarios, the program is intended to allow American businesses to make deals designed for flexibility, with customizability that might tap smaller or unique companies, or for speed, with prebuilt packages coming from major firms. 

4. Meeting Varied Visions of AI Sovereignty

AI sovereignty is top of mind for many governments as they procure AI technology, but how countries define AI sovereignty varies widely. For some nations, sovereignty centers on control of compute, for others data, models, or privacy decisions. The U.S. export approach’s emphasis on customizability seeks to address these varied goals by supporting flexible architectures, varied governance models, and localized control over sensitive data and infrastructure, supporting adoption of the U.S. AI tech stack while maintaining national autonomy. 

5. Financing Drives Adoption

Buyers are considering not just the quality of the tech stack but also the price point, and China and other nations have a competitive advantage in this area, offering both state-subsidized prices as well as simple financing rolled into deals. While the American AI Exports Program seeks to facilitate deals on the seller side via consortia, the program will likely seek to address financing and customer needs through nimble interagency coordination with tools such as those announced by White House personnel in Delhi, to be rolled out by the Export/Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation among others.