The whiplash in messaging reflects a deepening internal debate over how aggressively the Trump administration should regulate one of the most rapidly advancing technologies in American history.
A senior White House official, granted anonymity to describe sensitive policy discussions, said the administration is seeking "partnership" with companies rather than pursuing "government regulation." The official added that advocates of tighter controls represent a minority viewpoint within the West Wing. "There's one or two people who are very intent on government regulations, but they're sort of the minority of the bunch," the official said.
The conflicting signals come as tech industry officials anxiously await a forthcoming executive order that will spell out the administration's strategy for preventing powerful new AI systems from being weaponized for cyberattacks or bioweapons development. POLITICO reported Tuesday that the White House is considering a vetting system that could require major AI developers such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google to obtain government approval before releasing new models to the public.
The proposal was thrust into the spotlight on Wednesday when Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, told Fox Business that the administration was studying a pre-release safety testing regime akin to the FDA's drug approval process. "We're studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is gonna go," Hassett said, "and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that they're released into the wild after they've been proven safe."
The comparison to pharmaceutical regulation alarmed many in the tech sector, which has long advocated for a light-touch approach to AI governance. Industry representatives have warned that mandatory pre-release reviews could slow innovation and cede competitive advantage to foreign rivals, particularly in China.
It remains unclear how onerous any oversight system would ultimately be. The senior White House official's comments suggest that the administration is still weighing multiple approaches and that no final decisions have been made. The official's characterization of regulation advocates as a "minority" within the White House signals that the final executive order may take a more industry-friendly tone than Hassett's remarks implied.
The back-and-forth underscores the complex political calculus facing the White House as it seeks to balance national security concerns against the economic imperative to maintain U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. The executive order, once released, will represent the administration's most definitive statement yet on how it intends to manage the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI systems without stifling the industry that has become a cornerstone of American technological dominance.
