The Trump administration is reversing its long-standing hands-off approach to artificial intelligence, with internal debates intensifying after the release of Anthropic's powerful new Mythos model, which can identify decades-old security vulnerabilities. The shift has left tech companies and policy watchers scrambling to interpret mixed signals from the White House.
From Light Touch to Potential Vetting Regime
Since President Trump's second term began, the White House has championed a pro-innovation, light-touch regulatory stance on AI, prioritizing U.S. competitiveness over strict oversight. The focus was on preempting restrictive state-level AI laws. But the emergence of Mythos has forced a rethink, with officials now discussing heavier government involvement in new model rollouts.
Reports this week that the White House is considering an executive order creating a pre-release vetting system for AI models, akin to FDA drug approval, have sparked panic in the tech industry. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett hinted at this shift Wednesday, saying the administration is "studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap" and that future AI models should "go through a process so that they're released in the wild after they've been proven safe, just like an FDA drug."
Industry and Critics Push Back
The prospect of an FDA-style approval process for AI drew immediate fire from industry players and libertarian critics. Neil Chilson of the Abundance Institute and Adam Thierer of the R Street Institute wrote in a joint post that adopting such a regime "would represent a shocking policy reversal by the Trump administration, and a major about-face on how America has approached software, online speech, and digital commerce."
Jennifer Huddleston and Juan Londoño of the Cato Institute criticized pre-launch approval as "heavy-handed and anticompetitive," noting it was a feature of the Biden administration's AI executive order. Some warned the system could give federal officials a "kill switch" to stifle innovation and speech.
Internal Confusion and Whiplash
The back-and-forth has created confusion. A former Trump White House official told The Hill: "The flip-flopping nature of the administration's tech response signals that there is no clear direction or leader driving the agenda. The whiplash distracts from the work we are doing to address the risks on AI today."
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles tried to calm the storm, posting on X that the administration is "not in the business of picking winners and losers" and aims to "ensure the best and safest tech is deployed rapidly to defeat any and all threats." A White House official said policy announcements will come directly from Trump, calling discussion of potential executive orders "speculation."
Pattern of Policy Reversals
This is not Trump's first abrupt shift on tech policy. During his first term, he pushed to ban TikTok, only to cut a deal to preserve the app in his second term. He similarly dismissed cryptocurrency as a "scam" before embracing it during the 2024 campaign. The White House is now eyeing FDA-style safety checks for AI models amid concerns over Mythos.
The policy turmoil comes as public anxiety over AI grows. A Quinnipiac poll released in late March found 80 percent of U.S. adults are concerned about the technology. Meanwhile, major tech firms including Google, Microsoft, and xAI have pledged to submit AI models for federal pre-deployment testing, a voluntary step that could become mandatory under the new framework.
