White House weighs vetting AI models before public release: NYT

The White House is discussing an executive order that would establish a working group of tech executives and government officials to examine potential review procedures for new AI models, the newspaper reported, citing US officials and people with knowledge of the deliberations.

Senior administration officials briefed executives from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI on some of the plans in meetings last week, according to the report.

The shift marks a dramatic pivot from the administration's earlier stance.

Trump had positioned himself as a champion of unfettered AI development, rolling back Biden-era safety evaluation requirements and casting regulation as a threat to US competitiveness with China.

The Biden administration had issued an executive order in 2023 that required AI developers to share safety test results with the government and directed federal agencies to set standards for the technology, measures Trump rescinded shortly after taking office.

But mounting public anxiety over AI's impact on jobs, energy costs, education and mental health -- along with bipartisan concern in Congress -- appears to have shifted the calculus, the Times reported.

The immediate catalyst was the emergence of a powerful new AI model called Mythos, built by the San Francisco start-up Anthropic.

The company has described the model's ability to identify software security vulnerabilities as potentially leading to a cybersecurity reckoning and has declined to release it publicly.

Administration officials want to avoid political fallout from a devastating AI-enabled cyberattack and are also evaluating whether advanced models could yield capabilities useful to the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, the report said.

A White House official told the Times that buzz about a potential executive order was "speculation" and said Trump would make any policy announcement himself.

The rethink comes amid a leadership shake-up on AI within the Trump administration.

Silicon Valley insider David Sacks, the former White House AI czar who championed deregulation, departed from the role in March.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have stepped in, telling associates they intend to take a more active hand in shaping AI policy.

Their efforts have been complicated by an ongoing legal battle between Anthropic and the Pentagon over a $200 million contract and the terms of AI use by the US military.