President Donald Trump on May 21, 2026 postponed the signing of a long-anticipated executive order (EO) governing federal oversight of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems, hours before a planned Oval Office ceremony. <cite index="2-2">Speaking to reporters, Trump said he had pulled the order at the last minute because it could interfere with American competitiveness on AI.</cite>
<cite index="2-4">"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 lead," Trump said in the Oval Office during an unrelated event.</cite> He added that the directive <cite index="1-9">"could have been a blocker"</cite> on an industry he characterized as broadly beneficial.
What the order would have done
According to drafts described by multiple outlets, the EO was structured around two pillars. <cite index="2-13,2-14,2-15">The document is split into two main sections: one focused on cybersecurity and the other on testing and vetting frontier AI models. The order would direct several groups — including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the White House's Office of the National Cyber Director, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy — to establish methods to determine which AI models should fall under the new voluntary testing regime. The order would then charge administration officials with creating a new framework for the government to access and evaluate yet-to-be-released models in conjunction with leading AI companies.</cite>
A draft circulated to industry late on May 19 went further on timing. <cite index="5-13,5-14,5-15,5-16,5-17">The White House reportedly shared a draft of the directive with private sector representatives late Tuesday. That version called on AI developers to submit certain frontier models to the federal government for review at least 90 days before their release. Additionally, the draft specified that participating companies should give critical infrastructure operators early access to their models. The order would have made participation in the initiative voluntary. It specified that the Treasury Department should run the AI review program with the support of several other agencies.</cite>
Industry split and last-minute pullback
Reporting indicates the administration's decision followed friction among industry stakeholders. <cite index="5-10,5-11,5-12">The decision came after several prominent tech industry figures expressed opposition to the directive. The group reportedly included SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and venture capitalist David Sacks, a former White House adviser. OpenAI Group PBC is said to have supported the order.</cite> <cite index="5-3,5-4,5-5">According to Politico, the White House invited several prominent tech industry figures to the Thursday signing event. The group included Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but the trio indicated that they would not be able to attend. The attendance issues reportedly factored into Trump's decision not to sign the order.</cite>
Context
The planned order represents a notable shift for an administration that had previously favored a light-touch posture. <cite index="2-9,2-10">On his first day in office, Trump repealed one of President Joe Biden's key AI executive orders, which laid out its own method for establishing which AI models were considered most advanced or highest risk. Biden's order, unlike the planned order from Trump, required leading AI companies to share the results of internal testing, security protocols and other development details.</cite>
The renewed focus on pre-release evaluation followed recent capability disclosures from frontier labs. <cite index="6-12,6-13">The Trump administration had taken a more hands-off approach to AI regulation until recently, when Anthropic unveiled its Mythos model, which it says can exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities at an unprecedented pace. Anthropic hasn't released the model publicly and is instead granting access to a tightly controlled consortium of companies through its Project Glasswing.</cite> <cite index="6-16,6-17">The Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology announced earlier this month that major tech companies will share unreleased versions of their AI models with the government for national security and public safety-related evaluation. But that announcement is no longer available on the Commerce Department's website.</cite>
<cite index="1-12">The White House referred CNBC to Trump's remarks when asked for comment on the delay.</cite> No revised signing date has been announced.