Story perspectives

Trump Delays AI Safety Order Amid Model Review Push

5/21/2026

Summary

Story summary

President Donald Trump postponed signing the AI and cybersecurity executive order on May 21, 2026.
The draft order would require AI developers to submit models 90 days before release, task National Security Agency (NSA) and Treasury Department to review submissions, and was prompted by Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5-Cyber.
White House officials Susie Wiles, Sean Cairncross, and Michael Kratsios drafted the order as a compromise between mandatory-safeguard supporters and industry.

History

Historical Context

In February 2013 President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13636, directing the Department of Homeland Security and NIST to create a federal cybersecurity framework. NIST released the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity in February 2014, establishing an inter-agency review model. The Trump administration’s AI draft order now tasks the NSA and Treasury with 90-day pre-deployment reviews, mirroring that model.

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Story summary

President Donald Trump postponed signing the AI and cybersecurity executive order on May 21, 2026.
The draft order would require AI developers to submit models 90 days before release, task National Security Agency (NSA) and Treasury Department to review submissions, and was prompted by Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5-Cyber.
White House officials Susie Wiles, Sean Cairncross, and Michael Kratsios drafted the order as a compromise between mandatory-safeguard supporters and industry.

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