Trump Scraps AI Order After May 21 Sacks Call as White House Splits Into 3 Camps
Updated
Updated · The Daily Beast · May 28
Trump Scraps AI Order After May 21 Sacks Call as White House Splits Into 3 Camps
11 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · May 28
May 21 became the turning point: Trump shelved an AI executive order hours before signing after David Sacks warned the framework was too restrictive for industry.
The scrapped plan had been developed for months and would have asked AI companies to voluntarily let the government review new models before public release, without making that review legally mandatory.
Three factions are now battling over the rewrite: Sacks wants a lighter-touch approach, Pete Hegseth and Emil Michael want tighter safeguards against misuse and China risk, and Susie Wiles with Scott Bessent favor a middle-ground reporting framework.
Anthropic’s Mythos release accelerated the internal fight by raising fears that advanced models could expose critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, prompting closed-door talks with OpenAI, Google and Anthropic.
Negotiations are now back to square one, though officials say the order is postponed rather than dead and could still return with revised language if Trump changes course again.
Will a government 'first look' at new AI models safeguard national security or stifle American innovation?
With AI that autonomously hacks software now public, how can critical infrastructure be secured amid policy delays?
AI can now find any software flaw. Can the companies creating this technology be trusted to control its power?
Trump Cancels 2026 AI Oversight Order Amid 80% Public Support for Regulation: Industry Lobbying, Political Divides, and National Security Risks
Overview
On May 21, 2026, President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a planned executive order that would have established voluntary federal oversight for advanced AI models, reflecting his administration’s AI-friendly and deregulatory stance. The order, which aimed to give security agencies early access to AI systems for testing, was halted after intense last-minute lobbying from tech industry leaders who argued that even voluntary oversight could hinder innovation. This decision aligned with Trump’s commitment to undo previous regulatory frameworks and avoid policies that might contradict his promises to reduce government intervention in technology, highlighting the strong influence of industry on federal AI policy.