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White House scrambles to tame AI fears

by Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero - 05/08/26 6:29 PM ET

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by Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero - 05/08/26 6:29 PM ET

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The Big Story

White House scrambles to tame AI fears

The White House is trying to find its footing on AI policy, as the development of new, more powerful models forces the Trump administration to rethink its strategy on AI safety.

From the outset of President Trump’s second term, the White House has promoted a pro-innovation, light-touch stance on AI regulations, prioritizing the U.S.’s competitive standing against other countries.

AI battles in the White House and Congress have focused largely on efforts to preempt state AI laws deemed overly restrictive as a result.

But the release of Anthropic’s Mythos, the company’s newest model capable of spotting decades-old security vulnerabilities, has shaken the administration’s commitment to its typical hands-off approach, prompting discussions about heavier government involvement in new model rollouts.

Conflicting messages from administration officials and reports this week of a potential executive order on AI vetting has sparked panic from the tech industry and backlash from critics of strict AI regulation.

“The flip-flopping nature of the administration’s tech respond signal that there is no clear direction or leader driving the agenda,” a former Trump White House official told The Hill Friday. “The whiplash distracts from the work we are doing to address the risks on AI today.”

The back-and-forth began earlier this week, when The New York Times reported the White House is considering vetting AI models before they are released.

Politico reported a day later the White House floated an order creating a “vetting regime” that would require AI companies to be approved by the government before releasing models.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett hinted at something similar Wednesday.

“We’re studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is going to go and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that, you know, they’re released in the wild after they’ve been proven safe, just like an FDA drug,” Hassett said on Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria.”

The comment immediately sparked concerns from AI industry players, many of whom argued that an FDA-like approval process aligned more with the Biden administration’s cautious approach to AI rather than Trump’s deregulatory posture.

Read more in a full report Saturday morning at TheHill.com

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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