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Trump Halts AI Oversight Order, Cites China Race
(MENAFN) U.S. President Donald Trump has shelved a planned executive order that would have expanded federal oversight of artificial intelligence, saying he objected to provisions that could blunt America's technological edge over China — though media reports point to behind-the-scenes pressure from some of the world's most powerful tech figures.
The proposed regulation first drew public attention earlier this month when the New York Times revealed the Trump administration was weighing mandatory pre-release reviews of advanced AI systems. Under the framework, developers would have voluntarily engaged with federal authorities before launching new models — a measure designed partly to guard against AI-enabled cyberattacks and to give government officials, including those at the Pentagon, early access to systems with potential defense applications.
Speaking at a press event Wednesday, Trump made clear his objections were rooted in competitiveness.
"Because I didn't like certain aspects of it, I postponed it… 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," he said.
Trump further warned that the order risked becoming "a blocker" for an industry he credited with generating "tremendous" economic growth and employment. He also disclosed that AI governance had come up during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, framing the global AI race as a two-horse contest in which all other nations were "way behind."
A competing explanation has emerged, however. Both Semafor and the Washington Post reported that the delay followed lobbying by xAI founder Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and former Trump AI adviser David Sacks — all of whom allegedly feared the order would dent profits by slowing product launches or imposing costly security requirements.
Musk moved quickly to distance himself from those accounts.
"This is false," he wrote on X. "I still don't know what was in that [executive order] and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign."
The proposed regulation first drew public attention earlier this month when the New York Times revealed the Trump administration was weighing mandatory pre-release reviews of advanced AI systems. Under the framework, developers would have voluntarily engaged with federal authorities before launching new models — a measure designed partly to guard against AI-enabled cyberattacks and to give government officials, including those at the Pentagon, early access to systems with potential defense applications.
Speaking at a press event Wednesday, Trump made clear his objections were rooted in competitiveness.
"Because I didn't like certain aspects of it, I postponed it… 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," he said.
Trump further warned that the order risked becoming "a blocker" for an industry he credited with generating "tremendous" economic growth and employment. He also disclosed that AI governance had come up during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, framing the global AI race as a two-horse contest in which all other nations were "way behind."
A competing explanation has emerged, however. Both Semafor and the Washington Post reported that the delay followed lobbying by xAI founder Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and former Trump AI adviser David Sacks — all of whom allegedly feared the order would dent profits by slowing product launches or imposing costly security requirements.
Musk moved quickly to distance himself from those accounts.
"This is false," he wrote on X. "I still don't know what was in that [executive order] and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign."
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