White House weighs AI model review

President Donald Trump’s White House is preparing an executive order that would ask artificial intelligence companies to submit advanced models for voluntary federal review before public release, according to reports from CNN, Politico, Axios, Bloomberg and U.S. News. The draft order, which could be signed as soon as Thursday, would stop short of mandatory federal approval and instead create a voluntary framework for companies developing frontier systems. The proposal lands as OpenAI is shifting its lobbying strategy away from a stalled Congress and toward Democratic-led states, where the company says state laws could help build a national framework from below. It also comes as European lawmakers simplify parts of the European Union’s AI Act and as new research in Britain adds to concerns about how chatbots handle election information. (ktvz.com) ### What would the White House actually ask companies to do? A draft described by CNN and other outlets would ask AI developers to share advanced models with the U.S. government for a period before launch. The arrangement is described as voluntary, not a licensing system, and is aimed at giving officials earlier visibility into powerful systems before they are released publicly. (politico.com) U.S. News reported that one version of the framework would ask developers to provide models to the government 90 days before public release and to give pre-public access to critical infrastructure providers such as banks. Bloomberg reported that the order would also revamp existing cybersecurity information-sharing programs to include AI companies. (ktvz.com) ### Why is OpenAI working state capitals instead of Washington? OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told Politico the company is pursuing what he called “reverse federalism” as Congress remains deadlocked on AI legislation. Politico reported that the company is increasingly trying to persuade Democratic-led states to pass laws that align with its preferred national framework. (usnews.com) Politico said the shift reflects a broader problem for the industry’s push for federal legislation, which has stalled in Washington. The result is a state-by-state campaign in which OpenAI is trying to shape rules outside Congress while keeping alive the prospect of a future national standard. ### What changed in Europe’s AI rulebook? On May 7, European Union governments and European Parliament negotiators reached a provisional agreement to simplify parts of the bloc’s AI Act, according to Euronews and the Council of the European Union. (politico.com) The changes are part of a broader simplification package and are intended to streamline some obligations without scrapping the law’s risk-based structure. The Council said the proposal would streamline certain AI rules under the “Omnibus VII” package. Euronews reported that supporters described the move as a way to cut red tape, while critics said it amounted to a concession to large technology companies. ### Why are election officials still pushing for tighter controls? (euronews.com) The Electoral Commission in Britain called for new legal controls after a Demos study found that chatbots including ChatGPT, Replika, Grok and Gemini made serious errors during the recent Scottish election campaign, according to the Guardian. The reported failures included invented scandals, fictitious candidates and incorrect election dates. (consilium.europa.eu) That study adds a concrete policy backdrop to the White House and European moves. Officials on both sides of the Atlantic are debating how to oversee systems that can be updated and deployed faster than legislatures usually move, while still avoiding full pre-approval regimes. That framing is an inference from the reported policy steps in Washington and Europe. (vuink.com) ### What happens next in Washington? Thursday, May 21, is the earliest date cited in multiple reports for Trump to sign the executive order, though the timing could still slip. Bloomberg reported that Trump had asked tech industry leaders to join for the event, while CNN and Politico described the review framework as still being finalized. (ktvz.com) Any signed order would be the next concrete marker to watch, along with the final text on model access, timing and which companies or systems are covered. State legislation backed by OpenAI and the European Union’s follow-through on the May 7 agreement are the other named policy tracks now moving in parallel. (politico.com) (bloomberg.com)