The White House is currently working to clarify its stance on artificial intelligence regulation after mixed messages from top officials left the tech industry scrambling for answers. Senior aides are now attempting to dial back concerns that the administration intends to force tech companies to submit their advanced models for mandatory federal testing before they can be released to the public.
This pivot comes only a day after Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council, suggested in an interview that the administration was looking at a process similar to the Food and Drug Administration’s long-term drug testing regime.
The potential for such a restrictive oversight system has created significant anxiety among major players in the tech sector, including companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. As reported by Politico, these firms are waiting for an executive order that will define how the government plans to handle powerful new AI models, specifically those capable of launching cyberattacks or assisting in the development of bioweapons.
The confusion began when Hassett stated that the administration was considering an executive order to provide a clear roadmap for the industry
Hassett stated, “We’re studying possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is gonna go, 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 — just like an FDA drug.”
These comments were quickly viewed by industry insiders as a sign that the administration was moving toward much tighter controls than many had anticipated. The prospect of a federal vetting process is particularly concerning to those who worry about market access and competition.
Daniel Castro, the president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, which is funded by companies like Anthropic, Microsoft, and Meta, highlighted the potential for significant disruption. He explained, “If [approval is] something that can be withheld before going to market, that’s a huge issue for any company.” He added, “If one competitor got approval and the other didn’t, that could have a huge impact if we’re talking weeks or months in terms of their market access.”
In response to the growing unease, senior White House officials clarified that Hassett’s remarks were taken out of context. They emphasized that the administration is prioritizing partnership with technology companies rather than imposing heavy-handed government regulation.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also took to X on Wednesday night to address the situation directly, noting that the government is not in the business of picking winners and losers. Her post stated, “The White House will continue to lead an America First effort that empowers America’s great innovators, not bureaucracy, to drive safe deployment of powerful technologies while keeping America safe.” This was only the fourth time Wiles had posted on the platform since creating her account as chief of staff last week.
The urgency within the White House stems from the rapid development of highly capable AI systems, such as Anthropic’s Claude Mythos. This model has demonstrated an ability to find and exploit software vulnerabilities that are often missed by top-tier human hackers. There is a palpable fear within the government that they could be caught off guard by these emerging technologies.
To address these risks, people familiar with the administration’s plans indicate that the White House is discussing the possibility of having the intelligence community pre-assess new models. The goal is to allow the government to understand and potentially exploit these tools before adversaries like Russia and China gain access to similar capabilities.
Defense Undersecretary Emil Michael supported this perspective during an AI conference in Washington on Thursday. He remarked, “The Mythos moment is really a cyber moment; how is the U.S. government going to deal with cyber, how do we operationalize fixing things that need to be fixed? Because these models are coming one way or the other.”
Meanwhile, the industry is already navigating a complex landscape regarding safety standards. Voluntary agreements for safety testing are already being utilized through the Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation. This week, the center announced new testing deals with Google DeepMind, xAI, and Microsoft.
The situation is further complicated by the ongoing tension between the Pentagon and Anthropic. After the company refused to allow its models to be used for autonomous lethal attacks and mass surveillance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the firm a supply chain risk. President Trump also directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s products, referring to its executives as “leftwing nut jobs.”
Despite this, government agencies are still eager to access the Mythos model to better understand its capabilities, as Anthropic has restricted its release to a small group of security organizations to facilitate the patching of critical software holes. OpenAI is also moving forward with its own limited previews for its new tool, GPT-5.5-Cyber.
Published: May 8, 2026 05:15 pm