President Donald Trump abruptly postponed the signing of an executive order that would have created a voluntary federal review process for advanced artificial intelligence systems, saying he delayed the move because he "didn't like certain aspects" of the plan and feared it could slow U.S. innovation in the technology.
The signing ceremony was scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the White House, with invitations already sent to leading technology executives and industry figures before officials announced the delay just hours ahead of the event.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he decided to pause the order after reviewing its latest language, emphasizing that he did not want to "do anything that's going to get in the way" of the United States' lead over China and other competitors in AI, according to Business Insider.
He added that AI is "causing tremendous good" and bringing jobs, but warned that the measure "could have been a blocker" for the fast-growing sector if implemented as drafted.
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According to people familiar with the directive, the order would have encouraged major AI developers to submit their most advanced models for voluntary security and risk assessments by federal agencies before releasing them to the public.
The proposed process envisioned reviews as early as 14 to 90 days before deployment, allowing government experts to probe for cyber vulnerabilities or other systemic risks that could threaten banks, utilities, and other critical infrastructure, the New York Times reported.
Agencies expected to be involved included the Treasury Department, the National Security Agency, and the White House's cyber office, under a framework coordinated by the Office of the National Cyber Director.
The delay followed briefings in which senior officials outlined the plan to companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, whose top executives had been invited but were not all able to attend the planned ceremony.
The White House has not provided a new date for the signing or detailed what changes Trump is seeking in the text, beyond his public comments about competitiveness and overregulation, as per Politico.
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