• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

The White House delayed its decision to sign an order that would increase government scrutiny of new artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The delay came after companies and trade groups had already been briefed on the order, and AI company executives had been invited to attend the ceremony. It was not immediately clear when the signing might be rescheduled.

“I didn’t like certain aspects of it. I postponed it,” Trump told reporters during a Thursday morning event at the White House, Politico reported. “I think it gets in the way of — 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.”

The directive, a response to the Trump administration’s rising concerns about cybersecurity threats posed by AI models, had been expected to include a voluntary federal review of advanced AI products as far as 90 days before their public release.

The Treasury Department, the National Security Agency, and the White House’s cyber office were scheduled to review the applications. 

The White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director hosted a briefing Tuesday for AI-focused companies to discuss a planned executive order that should give these agencies oversight to review advanced models before the models are released, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

In March, the White House released policy guidelines that call for blocking state laws that regulate AI, which would create a patchwork of regulations and recommend federal safeguards and consumer protections.