Trump postpones AI order signing, ‘didn’t like’ some aspects

• Donald Trump postponed signing an AI executive order on May 21, stating he "didn't like certain aspects" of the text, aiming to maintain US leadership in AI.
• The postponement revealed White House infighting regarding AI regulation, with officials worried about hindering competition against China amidst public backlash against the technology.
• Trump, favouring rapid AI development, scrapped Biden's 2023 order that required safety tests, positioning himself against regulation to boost US competitiveness.

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said he had postponed the signing of an executive order on artificial intelligence with top CEOs at the White House on May 21 because he didn’t like parts of the text.

“Because I didn’t like certain aspects of it I postponed it,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, just a few hours before the ceremony was due to happen. “I didn’t like what I was seeing.”

“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.

“It’s causing tremendous good, and it’s also bringing in a lot of jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs,” Mr Trump added.

The executive order was intended to help protect US computer systems from powerful artificial intelligence that could give bad actors unprecedented powers.

The order was triggered in part by a new AI model called Mythos, built by the startup Anthropic, which the company has refused to release publicly because it believes the technology is too dangerous.

The postponement also comes as a backlash against AI gathers pace across the US, with speakers promoting the technology getting booed at university commencement ceremonies, voters rebelling against data centres, and polls regularly showing negative attitudes towards AI.

But the effort for a government answer has reportedly provoked White House infighting, with officials worried that an executive order would amount to regulation of AI – something associated with the previous administration of Democrat Joe Biden.

Through an executive order of his own, Mr Biden in 2023 required AI companies to hand over to the government the results of safety tests on their most powerful models.

The Biden order was seen as fairly industry-friendly compared to what some advocates wanted – it relied heavily on voluntary commitments and did not create a formal licensing regime.

Mr Trump scrapped that order on his first day back in the White House and has positioned himself as an advocate for rapid AI development, dismissing regulation as a constraint on US competitiveness with China.

According to The Information, a tech news outlet, the White House was still struggling to finalise the number of days the government would be given access to the models, with the AI companies seeking a shorter window.

The postponement also laid bare differing opinions within the administration.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had been leading a push to create some sort of safeguards against models that could give bad actors considerable new powers, most notably against financial institutions.

Against him was Mr Trump’s former AI czar, Mr David Sacks, a tech investor who believes in a hands-off approach to regulation.

The White House event was supposed to have been attended by major tech figures. AFP