Editor's Note: The Trump administration originally attempted to establish a pre-release safety testing mechanism for frontier AI models, but just hours before its signing, this executive order was abruptly halted.
According to the original plan, leading AI companies like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI would voluntarily share their models with the U.S. government 90 days before public release for national security and cybersecurity risk assessments. Trump ultimately refused to approve it, stating that he "did not want anything to hinder American leadership in the field of AI."
Behind this last-minute shift lies a core contradiction facing U.S. AI policy: while the capabilities of frontier models are beginning to touch on public risks such as cybersecurity, financial system vulnerabilities, employment shocks, and data center expansion, in the context where U.S.-China AI competition is seen as a national strategy, any regulatory arrangement may be interpreted by the industry as slowing innovation and weakening U.S. competitiveness.
More subtly, this executive order was originally not a mandatory approval system, but rather a "collaborative, voluntary" model assessment framework. In other words, the White House was not attempting to directly control model releases but sought to add a government safety testing phase before models were made publicly available. Yet even this relatively moderate proposal has been temporarily shelved amid the tug-of-war between safety governance and technological leadership.
AI is transitioning from a purely technological industry issue into the intersecting domains of national security, macroeconomics, and political governance. The focal point of debate in U.S. AI policy is also shifting from "whether to support AI development" to "how to manage the systemic risks potentially posed by frontier models without sacrificing the lead."
Below is the original text:
The White House unexpectedly delayed the signing of a long-anticipated executive order on artificial intelligence. Previously, Donald Trump had indicated that he "did not like" parts of the plan, especially the arrangement whereby the U.S. government proposed to conduct national security and cyber risk reviews of AI models.
The executive order was originally scheduled to be signed on Thursday afternoon. Under the plan, leading AI companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic would have voluntarily committed to submitting their models for government review.
Trump's sudden reversal occurred after weeks of internal government debate over the boundaries of regulatory scrutiny.
Speaking about the executive order, Trump said: "I don't like certain aspects of it. We're ahead of China, and we're ahead of everyone, and I don't want anything to hold back our lead." He also stated that artificial intelligence "is also bringing in a lot of jobs."
Before the signing ceremony was abruptly postponed, several tech company CEOs had been scheduled to travel to Washington to attend the event with Trump.
The delayed signing comes as multiple polls continue to show that American voters are concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence, with many supporting stricter regulation and safety guardrails for this emerging technology.
Public concerns are rising about the safety implications of releasing powerful AI models; simultaneously, the impact of AI on jobs and controversies surrounding large-scale data center construction have complicated the White House's political calculus. Not long ago, this administration's attitude towards the AI industry was still notably positive.
Some of Trump's allies had called for bringing leading AI models under U.S. government control; however, other MAGA camp figures warned that any measures restricting AI growth could hinder the U.S. economy.
A poll conducted this month for the Institute for Family Studies showed that 82% of Americans support the White House conducting safety testing on advanced AI models.
The development of this executive order stemmed from key White House officials having early access to Anthropic's latest Mythos model, which included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The model possesses advanced capabilities for identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Informed officials said they were alarmed by issues exposed by the model, such as vulnerabilities in the banking system.
So far, Anthropic has only granted limited access to the Mythos model to a select group of trusted institutions, including tech companies and some banks, allowing them to discover and fix cybersecurity issues before hackers gain access to the model.
Trump's National Economic Council Director, Kevin Hassett, had at one point proposed that frontier AI models undergo a process similar to drug approval, only being officially released after "being proven safe, just like the FDA approves drugs."
His remarks faced strong opposition from AI founders and investors, including some with close ties to the Trump administration, who argued that such a system would weaken America's innovative capabilities.
The executive order fell far short of such an approval system, instead moving towards establishing a "collaborative, voluntary model benchmark assessment framework." On Thursday morning, before the scheduled signing ceremony, White House officials had already briefed reporters on the contents of the order.
Under the proposed agreement, leading AI companies including OpenAI and xAI would voluntarily share their models with the government 90 days before public release. In other words, this mechanism would ultimately still largely rely on the willingness of AI company leaders to cooperate.
