By Nick Robins-Early
Publication Date: 2026-05-23 14:00:00
Just hours before Donald Trump was set to sign a long-awaited executive order on Thursday that would have required government security reviews of new artificial intelligence models before their release, the president abruptly backed down. Despite the growing public backlash against the technology and experts warning that new models would pose a critical security risk, Trump promised that the US government would not slow the AI race.
During a meeting with reporters on Thursday, Trump cited both American dominance and competition with China as his rationale for the about-face.
“I didn’t like certain aspects of it, I postponed it,” Trump said of the executive order in the Oval Office. “We’re leading China, we’re letting everyone down, and I don’t want to do anything that gets in the way of that lead.”
Trump’s postponement of the order was a victory for tech leaders who have long opposed AI regulation and spent millions advocating against it. The decision was also the direct result…
