Cybersecurity Policy Report, Trump’s Concerns Delay White House Order for Assessing Advanced AI’s Cyber Risks, (May 21, 2026)
The planned signing of an executive order (EO) that reportedly would have subjected some AI (artificial intelligence) models to prerelease testing by the government was canceled today after President Trump expressed concerns.
“I didn’t like what I was seeing,” the president said during remarks to reporters in the Oval Office today. “I didn't like certain aspects of it. I postponed it.”
The White House has faced pressure to reevaluate its largely hands-off stance toward AI development following disclosures by Anthropic and OpenAI that their most advanced models were capable of quickly identifying and exploiting cybersecurity vulnerabilities (CPR, May 18). Both companies voluntarily withheld their models from public release, instead offering access to a select group of organizations capable of using the models for cyber defense.
President Trump expressed concern that the EO, as drafted, might hinder U.S. progress on AI development. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” he said.
“It’s causing tremendous good, and it’s also bringing in a lot of jobs,” he added. “I really thought that could have been a blocker, and I want to make sure that it’s not.” He didn’t offer a timetable for signing of a revised EO.
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