Politico obtained a draft of the executive order on artificial intelligence that President Donald Trump was scheduled to sign Thursday afternoon, but the event was abruptly postponed.
The document (available here ) was intended to address concerns that advanced AI products from companies like Anthropic could cause devastating cyberattacks and wreak other havoc if they fell into the wrong hands. POLITICO previously reported that developers of advanced AI models are seeking to create a voluntary monitoring system that allows them to submit their products for review by federal agencies up to 90 days before releasing them.
Among other details, the seven-page draft emphasizes that government AI reviews are voluntary: “Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of mandatory government licensing, pre-approval, or permission requirements for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models.”
Despite those assurances, former Trump AI czar David Sachs expressed concern that self-review could someday become mandatory, a senior White House official told Politico on Thursday.
The draft also includes language targeting malicious actors. The law directs the Attorney General to enforce “the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other applicable federal criminal laws against those who use AI to gain unauthorized and unlawful access or damage computers, or who use AI while engaging in such unlawful access in furtherance of other crimes.”
Administration officials briefed big tech companies on the order this week, and top AI industry leaders were invited to attend a signing ceremony at the White House on Thursday.
But Trump told reporters he had pumped the brakes.
The president “didn’t like certain aspects of it,” he said, adding that he feared the order would slow down U.S. efforts to beat China in the battle for AI supremacy.
The administration has not said what changes will be made to the order or when the signing will be rescheduled.
Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
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