Trump postpones AI safety order

President Donald Trump postponed a planned executive order on artificial intelligence on May 21, saying he objected to parts of the draft and did not want to weaken the United States in its competition with China. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he had delayed the signing ceremony because he “didn’t like certain aspects of it,” according to CNBC and Reuters. The White House had not posted a new executive order on the issue by May 24, and the Federal Register’s 2026 executive-order page did not show a newly published AI order. A social media post circulating on May 24 described the move as a delay driven by adviser concerns over U.S. competitiveness against Chinese developers, but no formal White House statement matched that wording. ### What exactly did Trump say when he halted the signing? Trump said on May 21 that he called off the signing because he did not want the order to interfere with U.S. AI development. “I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” he told reporters, according to CNBC. Reuters reported that Trump also said he did not want to take steps that might undermine the U.S. position in its AI competition with China. (cnbc.com) Bloomberg reported the draft order was aimed at cybersecurity concerns raised by powerful new AI models. Trump said, according to Bloomberg, “I really thought that could have been a blocker, and I want to make sure that it’s not.” ### Was this only a social-media claim? A May 24 social-media post said Trump postponed an AI safety order after advisers warned guardrails could slow U.S. models relative to China. (cnbc.com) That account lines up in broad outline with Trump’s public comments on May 21, but the more specific claim about advisers warning that guardrails would weaken commercial competitiveness has not been confirmed in a White House release visible as of May 24. (bloomberg.com) Reuters, CNBC and Bloomberg each reported the postponement based on Trump’s own remarks, not on the May 24 post. Those reports tied the delay to Trump’s objections to the draft and to concerns about preserving a U.S. edge over China. ### What kind of AI order was under discussion? Reuters reported the proposed order concerned risks from advanced AI systems, while Bloomberg described it as addressing cybersecurity issues created by powerful models. (usnews.com) The reporting indicates the draft was narrower than a broad industrial-policy package and was focused on safeguards around frontier systems. (cnbc.com) The Trump administration has already issued other AI policy documents, including a January 2025 order titled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” and a December 2025 order titled “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence.” Those actions emphasized deregulation, federal preemption of some state rules, and U.S. leadership in AI. (usnews.com) ### How does this fit with Trump’s broader AI agenda? The White House’s July 2025 “America’s AI Action Plan” said the administration viewed AI as a strategic competition tied to national and economic security. The December 2025 White House fact sheet on AI policy said the administration wanted to remove “unnecessary red tape” and ensure U.S. companies could compete globally. (whitehouse.gov) Those earlier documents help explain why a draft safety order could face internal resistance if officials believed it imposed obligations on U.S. developers that rivals in China would not face. That inference is based on the administration’s published policy language and Trump’s May 21 comments about avoiding a “blocker.” (whitehouse.gov) ### What has happened since the postponement? As of May 24, the White House executive-order page did not show a new AI safety order, and the Federal Register did not list a newly signed AI order for publication. Reuters said no new signing date was immediately provided when Trump announced the delay. The next public markers are likely to be a White House posting, a revised signing schedule, or a Federal Register filing if Trump signs a new version. (whitehouse.gov) Until then, the clearest on-record account remains Trump’s May 21 Oval Office explanation and the contemporaneous reporting from Reuters, CNBC and Bloomberg. (cnbc.com) (whitehouse.gov)