The Trump administration is considering an executive order that would establish a government review process for artificial intelligence models before they are made publicly available, according to The New York Times.
The White House is weighing an executive order that would create a working group of tech executives and officials to examine oversight procedures
-1920x1280.jpg)
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Getty Images
The Trump administration is considering an executive order that would establish a government review process for artificial intelligence models before they are made publicly available, according to The New York Times.
Under the proposed order, tech company leaders and federal officials would convene in a working group tasked with studying what oversight of AI systems might look like. Executives at Anthropic, Google $GOOGL, and OpenAI were among those who received briefings from White House officials on aspects of the proposal during meetings last week, The Times reported. Among the options being weighed is a structure modeled loosely on the U.K.'s approach, which distributes responsibility for confirming AI safety benchmarks across multiple government agencies.
The discussions represent a marked shift for an administration that moved quickly to dismantle regulatory guardrails around AI after President Donald Trump took office last year. An earlier Biden administration requirement — under which AI developers had to perform safety assessments and flag models that could be used in military contexts — was among the regulatory measures Trump eliminated. He has also framed aggressive AI development as central to the U.S. competition with China.
The proposed oversight framework comes amid a broader stalemate over AI regulation. The White House released a legislative framework in March calling on Congress to pass federal rules that would supersede state laws, but states have largely proceeded with their own measures. California, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota have each advanced or enacted AI-related requirements in recent months.
The administration's renewed engagement with AI companies also follows a period of high-profile friction with Anthropic. The Trump administration had designated Anthropic a supply-chain threat after the company refused to grant the Pentagon open-ended authority over its models for autonomous weapons or surveillance of American citizens. The Department of Defense directed military contractors to drop Anthropic's Claude from government-facing work, and Trump called on federal agencies to cut ties with the company entirely. Anthropic sued the administration in federal court in California and Washington state.
A recent meeting between Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and White House officials — including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — appeared to ease some of that tension. Trump said afterward that a deal for Anthropic to work with the Department of Defense was possible and that the company's representatives were "shaping up." The White House described the session as "productive and constructive."
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.