Topline
President Donald Trump reportedly pulled a new artificial intelligence executive order planned for Thursday at the last minute under pressure from industry executives, including billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and former White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk follows U.S. President Donald Trump on the red carpet upon arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport on May 13, 2026 in Beijing, China for Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Sacks told Trump the new protocols established in the executive order could slow the launch of new AI products, give China an advantage and be manipulated by future administrations that might want more controls on the industry, The Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed senior administration official.
Musk and Zuckerberg also spoke directly with Trump and expressed concerns that the order could negatively impact the U.S. economy, according to The Post.
The White House abruptly cancelled the executive order signing, to which multiple tech executives were invited, hours before it was set to begin.
Trump told reporters he called off the order because he “didn’t like” the draft, adding “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.”
The order stopped short of requiring government testing or licensing for new AI models and would have reportedly established an unofficial protocol for AI companies to give the government a 90-day notice on new technology so it could be scanned for vulnerabilities, including hacking and foreign interference, The Washington Post reported.
The industry leaders reportedly worried that although the new reporting requirements were technically voluntary, it could inadvertently pressure companies to comply, according to The Washington Post.
Tangent
Trump invited executives at OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta and Microsoft to attend the executive order signing, and he was disappointed when several couldn’t attend, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Contra
OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, backed the executive order, Semafor reported. OpenAI is also promoting state-level AI controls, a strategy the White House supports, according to Semafor.
Key Background
The order would have required the Office of the National Cyber Director and other agencies to establish the review process within two months, according to The New York Times. It also sought to boost government cybersecurity measures around AI and help protect banks, utilities and other crucial infrastructure from attacks. The CEOs’ involvement underscores their heavy influence in the Trump administration, which has embraced Silicon Valley and the tech industry, including by bringing more than a dozen CEOs, including Zuckerberg and Musk to China for Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping last week. While the Trump administration has taken a largely hands-off approach to AI regulation, the release of Anthropic’s Mythos last month heightened fears that the technology could be used by bad actors. The product is designed to find and exploit vulnerabilities in software. The government also worried that Mythos would use some of the limited computing power source the government also needs to operate AI tools, The Wall Street Journal reported previously. The White House, which was involved in the Mythos rollout because of the national security risks it posed, blocked Anthropic from expanding access to 70 additional companies, up from the initial 50.
Further Reading
Trump Postpones Hotly Anticipated AI Executive Order Over: ‘Didn’t Like Certain Aspects’ (Forbes)