President Donald Trump on May 21, 2026 postponed signing an executive order that would have allowed the federal government to evaluate advanced AI models before they are released to the public, citing dissatisfaction with the draft’s wording and concerns it might impede U.S. leadership over China and other competitors. Speaking to the White House press pool, he said, “I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” and added he did not want anything “that’s going to get in the way” of U.S. leadership.
The delay leaves companies that develop high‑capability models without an immediate federal pre‑release review requirement while the administration reworks its approach. The draft order would have charged the Office of the National Cyber Director and other agencies with creating a formal pre‑release review pathway for AI models. That pathway was intended to give federal officials a structured process to assess risks tied to model capabilities and the timing of their deployment before public release.
A central sticking point in reporting on the proposal was a requirement that advanced AI companies share models with the government between 14 and 90 days before launch. That proposal gained urgency after recent high‑profile model releases — Anthropic’s Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT‑5.5 Cyber — which raised concerns by demonstrating capabilities that can quickly find and exploit security vulnerabilities.
Officials and trade reporting also pointed to logistics and optics as factors in the decision to delay. Organizers often attach public photo opportunities to executive‑order signings, and several tech CEOs reportedly could not travel to Washington, D.C. on short notice; those scheduling and public‑relations considerations, together with disputes over precise language, shaped the administration’s choice to hold off.
For builders and companies, the postponement means the United States will not immediately impose a formal federal pre‑release security review regime; nonetheless, the draft’s proposals remain a concrete possibility. The involvement of the Office of the National Cyber Director and unspecified interagency partners signals that future rulemaking or mandatory disclosure windows could target major model launches and operational timelines. No new signing date or revised text of the order has been released publicly. The account of the delay draws on a mix of administration comments and reporting, and the underlying draft provisions — including the proposed 14–90 day disclosure window and interagency review role-remain part of the policy discussion.
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