WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� called off plans to sign a new executive order on hours before an expected White House ceremony Thursday because he said he was worried the measure could dull America鈥檚 edge on AI technology.
Trump said he was postponing the Oval Office event with tech industry executives because he did not like what he saw in the order鈥檚 text. 鈥淲e鈥檙e leading China, we鈥檙e leading everybody, and I don鈥檛 want to do anything that鈥檚 going to get in the way of that lead,鈥� Trump told reporters.
The order would have established a framework for the government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release, according to a person familiar with the White House鈥檚 deliberations with the tech industry but not authorized to speak about it publicly. The directive was being characterized as a voluntary collaboration with participating U.S.-based tech companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google, the person said.
The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world鈥檚 software.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with Wall Street CEOs in April, warning them about the cybersecurity risks posed by Anthropic鈥檚 AI model, Claude Mythos.
The meeting, urgently assembled at the Treasury Department’s headquarters, was intended to ensure that banks were aware of the risks associated with the models, Bessent said at CNBC鈥檚 鈥淚nvest in America Forum鈥� in Washington in April. 鈥淭his new Anthropic model is very powerful,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome banks are doing a better job in cybersecurity than others, and we want to have the ability to convene them and talk about what is best practices and where they should be heading.”
That led some allies of the Republican president to propose better methods for getting those AI tools in the hands of trusted cybersecurity experts.
Trump’s hopes for AI have run up against voters’ fears of its impact
Trump had pledged to undo the AI safety regulations set by his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden. Trump’s administration has viewed the AI sector as an engine to to expand the economy and he has promoted its major players at events at the White House and around the world. Last week, Trump had for a summit with China鈥檚 Xi Jinping.
Trump’s ambitions for the sector have collided with the fears of voters over the impact of the technology on , and . Republicans themselves are divided over whether to embrace the AI industry or side with voters who express skepticism about the technology.
Also complicating the government’s interest in working with Anthropic on cybersecurity is the government’s ongoing legal fight with the company. Trump in February ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic鈥檚 chatbot Claude after between the Pentagon and CEO Dario Amodei.
There are competing factions within the administration, said Serena Booth, a computer science professor at Brown University and former AI policy fellow in a Democratic-led Senate committee.
鈥淲e do see this kind of public fighting,鈥� she said. 鈥濃�榃e will release an executive order. No, we won鈥檛. We鈥檙e going to sign it this afternoon. Oh, the signing is canceled.鈥� I think this whiplash is because we鈥檙e seeing these fractures.鈥欌��
Some of those divides are balancing what Booth said is a 鈥渞easonable idea鈥� to test the most capable AI models before their public release, with a concern that government scrutiny, if it takes too long, could burden AI developers.
鈥淚t does come at a potential very large cost to innovation and speed of development,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is, I think, a real risk here and I do see both sides.鈥�
The White House has seeking to regulate AI, saying the measures could curb growth. A new executive order that could have been perceived as government screening of commercial AI models would have signaled a significant shift in the administration’s approach.
At the same time, similar screening is already happening. Trump鈥檚 Commerce Department announced earlier this month that it signed agreements with Google, Microsoft and Elon Musk鈥檚 xAI to evaluate their most powerful AI models before their public release, building on previous agreements the Biden administration made with Anthropic and OpenAI. But the announcement later disappeared from the Commerce Department website.
White House describes a balance between safety and innovation
At a White House press briefing Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance declined to discuss specifics from the order but said the administration wants to promote innovation while also addressing cybersecurity threats and data privacy.
鈥淭he president wants us to be pro-innovation. He wants us to win the AI race against all other countries in the world,鈥� he said. Vance added, “We also want to make sure that we鈥檙e protecting people.鈥�
Asked about new models that could pose security risks, Vance said the administration is taking a collaborative approach with tech companies.
鈥淚t also does have some downsides,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e trying to balance that safety against innovation.鈥�
A former White House tech policy adviser who was a lead author of Trump鈥檚 AI policy roadmap said the disagreements likely represent 鈥渉ealthy tension鈥� in an administration that has long been wary of regulating the 鈥渇rontier AI鈥� companies like Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 want to do it because it鈥檚 politically risky in a million different ways,鈥� said Dean Ball, now at the Foundation for American Innovation. Ball said he would welcome an executive order that would get those companies working more closely with the government on cybersecurity but 鈥渦ltimately, I鈥檓 fine with them taking time to get this right.鈥�
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O’Brien reported from Providence, R.I. Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
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