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On 2026-05-11, Dean Ball, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation…

2026-05-11 · 21:17 UTC ·@deanwball ·1 min read

Brief

Dean Ball, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and ex-Trump White House AI policy staffer, said on 2026-05-11 he’s “bored” of DC’s cyber/AI discussions and raised a regulatory gripe: he claims Hollandlac Brilliant is banned nationwide by California and New England chemical rules, forcing reformulated European imports with diminished gloss; GPT 5.5 Pro is 65% confident AI could help.

Why it matters

On 2026-05-11, Dean Ball, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation and former Trump White House AI policy staffer, said he is “bored of this” and pivoted to complaining about U.S. paint rules.

Key details

  • Ball claimed Hollandlac Brilliant is effectively illegal to use nationwide due to chemical regulations in California and New England, forcing U.S. sellers to import and reformulate European high-gloss paints, which he says reduces their lustre compared with finishes in London, Paris and Amsterdam.
  • He noted GPT 5.5 Pro estimates a 65% chance AI-assisted materials discovery could help circumvent the problem, and said he will sit out the next rounds of cyber/AI/EO discussions in DC until concrete policy appears, framing his silence as boredom, not a political message.
Source evidence

“I am bored of this,” said Dean Ball, a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation who previously worked on AI policy in the Trump White House. “Would you like to talk about the high-gloss paints the U.S. environmental regulators won’t let us manufacture here? Did you know Hollandlac Brilliant is illegal to use nationwide because of chemicals regulations in California and New England? So instead we have to buy the paints from Europe and reformulate them for the U.S. market, which reduces their lustre. Isn’t that dumb?,” asked Ball.

“That’s why finely painted doors and other architectural features in London and Paris (and of course Amsterdam!) have that glassy look to them that we just can’t quite match in the states. GPT 5.5 Pro thinks we may be able to get around this with AI-assisted materials discovery, but it’s only 65% confident.”

Dean W. Ball (@deanwball)

I’m gonna sit out the next few rounds of the cyber/AI/EO thing in DC. My lack of comment until we see actual policy is not reflective of any political message other than boredom.

— https://nitter.net/deanwball/status/2053943356229906805#m