The US president Donald Trump postponed signing an executive order on AI because he did not like certain aspects of it and did not want to take any steps that might undermine the US position in its AI competition with China.
The order would create a voluntary framework for AI developers to engage with the U.S. government before the public release of advanced AI models, two sources familiar with the order told Reuters.
“I think it gets in the way of, you know, we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump did not specify which parts of the executive order he objected to.
It comes after the Trump became the first US president in nearly a decade to visit China, and described his meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping as “very successful”.
The administration’s plans were reportedly put on hold after a push from xAI founder Elon Musk and other big tech figures.
Replying to a post on X about the reporting, Musk said, “this is false,” adding: “I still don’t know what was in that EO and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign.”
