WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on artificial intelligence that asks AI developers to voluntarily submit their models to the federal government to review for potential security risks amid growing concerns about the rapid rise of the technology.
The order, which Trump signed in private on June 2, stops short of mandating that the federal government conduct safety evaluations and cybersecurity testing for advanced AI products. Instead, it establishes a voluntary framework for AI developers who choose to engage with the federal government before releasing certain AI models to the public.
The order also directs the expansion of advanced AI in national security systems and national critical infrastructure such as rural hospitals, community banks and local utilities.
Trump’s signature comes after he abruptly scrapped plans on May 21 to sign a drafted AI order with slightly different language, citing concerns about overregulating the growing AI industry. Tech entrepreneurs were set to join Trump at an Oval Office signing ceremony before Trump canceled the plans.
Under the newly signed order, the federal government would have access to advanced AI models submitted for testing for up to 30 days ‒ a shorter period than the 90-day window established in the draft order that Trump shelved.
“Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of a mandatory governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models,” the order reads.
A voluntary framework marks a middle ground between tech executives who oppose mandatory AI requirements and MAGA activists, including the president’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who have pushed for requiring AI developers to submit their AI models for government security tests.
Even with the scaled-back voluntary review process, the order marks a shift for Trump to more aggressive engagement with AI than he’s taken to date. Trump has pushed a more hands-off approach for government intervention in the AI industry than his predecessor, former president Joe Biden.
Voluntary federal testing has been in place for a few years, with companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic submitting their models for scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation. The department announced in May that Google, xAI and Microsoft had agreed to submit their AI models for security testing.
Tech executives praised Trump’s AI order. Microsoft President Brad Smith, in a statement, called the action “an important step toward advancing innovation while protecting the security of the American public.” He said his company welcomes the effort.
But some of Trump’s Democratic critics said the order doesn’t go nearly far enough. “After spending a year mocking AI safety concerns and calling them anti-American, the Trump Administration has finally conceded that guardrails are needed,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has pushed AI regulations at the state level, said in a statement. “This EO is nowhere near California’s approach, but at least Trump is starting to acknowledge that AI shouldn’t regulate itself!
J.B. Branch, AI governance and technology policy counsel at Public Citizen, a progressive-leaning consumer rights group, called the order “a compromised version of an already empty draft EO.”
“It is an insult to the American people to essentially allow Big Tech to participate in regulation on its own terms. Americans deserve more than voluntary promises from the same companies racing to deploy these powerful systems and harming people daily,” Branch said.
Contributing: Reuters
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
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