Trump administration considering safety review for new AI models
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The Trump administration is considering a new plan that would require the Pentagon to safety test AI models that are deployed to federal, state and local governments, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: In a post-Mythos world, the Trump administration appears to be re-evaluating its hard line against the AI safety and security measures it once shrugged off.
Driving the news: The White House's Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) hosted two meetings last week — one with tech and cyber companies and another with tech trade groups — to discuss the broader security concerns raised by advanced AI models, including Anthropic's Mythos Preview, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
- The office has also been discussing an AI security framework that would require the Pentagon to lead safety testing for AI deployments for federal, state and local government levels, the two sources said.
- That would be an additional layer of responsibility for the government to assess the security vulnerabilities posed by a model before it's rolled out in the public sector.
- The New York Times first reported Monday that the administration is considering an executive order that could charge multiple agencies with safety testing new AI models.
Zoom in: Both sources said that framework is fairly far along.
- One said it was in the works before the release of Mythos sparked a new cybersecurity panic. It's unclear if there will be updates to reflect advancements from Mythos and OpenAI's GPT 5.5 model.
- A White House official said that any policy announcement "will come directly from the president" and that discussion about "potential executive orders is speculation."
The big picture: Ever since Anthropic announced Mythos, the White House has been scrambling to understand the hacking capabilities it possesses — and what the administration's role should be in reining in the biggest national security concerns.
- The White House has also been eying executive actions that would allow federal agencies to sidestep the current ban on government agencies using Anthropic so they can use Mythos, as Axios first reported.
The intrigue: While Trump immediately revoked the Biden administration's AI executive order on Day 1, many of the ideas that are now being considered already existed in that order.
- Under the Biden executive order, the Commerce Department's Center for AI Standards and Innovation would have run security and safety tests to evaluate new models before they're released to the public.
Reality check: Sources say that the talks at the White House remain fluid — with specific proposals for executive action changing often.
- "There are still real tensions being worked through internally," one source, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters, told Axios.
The bottom line: Economic and tech policy voices are worried about any policy changes that could complicate deployments, while the national security community is worried about the possible of a major AI-enabled cyberattack.
