“I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” Trump explained to reporters at the White House on Thursday morning. “I think it gets in the way of—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.”
The order would have created a system in which AI companies could voluntarily submit their most advanced models to key national security agencies for testing and vetting up to 90 days prior to releasing them. Officials from multiple government departments and agencies had spent weeks negotiating over the executive order’s language, and leading AI companies had been briefed on its content. At least two of those companies, Anthropic and OpenAI, had indicated they were in favor of the voluntary vetting system.
David Sacks, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg led last-minute push
The executive order was under consideration following the debut of Anthropic’s Mythos model, which possesses unprecedented cyber capabilities. The AI company has voluntarily limited Mythos’ release out of concern that those capabilities, if widely shared, could help hackers to launch devastating cyber attacks against critical infrastructure.But David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who stepped down in late March as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, successfully mounted a last-ditch lobbying effort to derail the order’s signing. Sacks called Trump on Thursday to express his concerns, according to press accounts. The campaign also included similar calls to Trump from Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, both of whom are developing advanced AI models. There were also, reportedly, efforts to convince members of Vice President JD Vance’s staff to voice concerns about the order with Trump.Sacks is a prominent AI “accelerationist” who believes that any federal regulation will harm U.S innovation, hurt the business interests of U.S. technology companies, and delay the country from experiencing the many benefits he believes AI will bring. He also sees the U.S. as being in a potentially existential race with China to develop advanced AI capabilities, and believes that regulation will result in the U.S. falling behind in this geopolitical contest.Although no longer officially serving as Trump’s AI advisor, Sacks continues to wield influence on the administration’s AI policy. Earlier this week, according to news reports, he attended official briefings on the executive order. At the time, he reportedly indicated he would not oppose the voluntary model testing framework.But, according to a story in Politico, Sacks later told Trump that he feared the voluntary vetting would act as a de facto licensing regime, slowing down AI companies’ releases of new AI models. He also worried, Politico reported, that a future administration might easily turn the voluntary procedure into a mandatory one.Trump’s decision to postpone signing the order leaves U.S. AI policy in a strange place both in terms of policy and politics. AI regulation is an issue which splits Trump’s base. Trump came into office supported by a cadre of “move fast and break things” Silicon Valley billionaires, including Sacks and Musk. They have expressed admiration for the president for tearing down what they see as unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, and for embracing crypto currency. Zuckerberg, who was a critic of Trump during his first term as president, has in the past year emerged as a vocal supporter.
