Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) called President Donald Trump‘s decision to walk away from his own artificial intelligence executive order a “failure,” warning that the lack of federal AI oversight could weaken U.S. competitiveness and the tech sector.
Billionaire Influence Drove Trump’s AI Retreat
According to Kelly's Friday post on X, the order, based on published reports, would have established a voluntary process for government agencies to assess certain frontier AI systems for risks and vulnerabilities before they are publicly released. The order would have also required AI developers to share advanced models with the government 90 days before public release, with early access extended to critical infrastructure groups, including banks.
Kelly said even that modest step was abandoned after pushback from major tech executives.
“America cannot lead in AI if our policy is determined by whichever billionaire gets the President on the phone last,” Kelly said.
