Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking Oversight of A.I. Models
The order, which signaled a shift from the hands-off approach the White House had previously taken toward A.I., followed debates over how to gain control of A.I. models without disrupting innovation.
The order, which signaled a shift from the hands-off approach the White House had previously taken toward A.I., followed debates over how to gain control of A.I. models without disrupting innovation.
President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that asked technology companies to voluntarily give the government oversight of new artificial intelligence models before releasing them to the public, a shift for an administration that had promoted a hands-off approach to the powerful technology.
The order followed months of debate in the Trump administration over how to handle A.I. and its effects on cybersecurity and national security. Last month, Mr. Trump scrapped an executive order on A.I. — which would have created a window of up to 90 days in which the government would review new A.I. models before they were released — just hours before he was set to sign it.
Tuesday’s signing followed a meeting at the White House on Monday that Mr. Trump convened with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and David Sacks, who was previously the administration’s A.I. czar, among others, two people familiar with the confidential meeting said. Mr. Sacks, who had opposed the order, blessed a revised version after the timeline for reviews was cut to 30 days from 90 days, the people said. That helped persuade Mr. Trump to move forward with the signing.
The order is the Trump administration’s biggest step toward regulating artificial intelligence. It is a reversal of the president’s anything-goes stance, which he adopted when he returned to office last year. That approach was designed to help American tech companies beat China and bolster the economy.
Under the new order, tech companies would voluntarily give the government a window of up to 30 days to review their new A.I. models before releasing them to the public. The order also asks the Treasury secretary to form an A.I. “cybersecurity clearinghouse,” which would review security vulnerabilities discovered by A.I. models.
“Advanced A.I. capabilities make our nation stronger, but also introduce new national security considerations that require coordinated action across executive departments and agencies,” the order said.
