US President Donald Trump decided not to sign an executive order on artificial intelligence on May 21, 2026, after last-minute objections from Silicon Valley allies, sources said [1, 2].
The draft order would have required federal agencies to have up to 90 days of access to powerful AI models before their public release. It also aimed to coordinate rapid government response to AI-enabled threats [1, 2]. Tech companies pushed to reduce the proposed 90-day review window to 14 days, citing concerns about innovation slowdowns [1, 2].
David Sacks, Trump’s former AI and crypto czar, called the president on the morning of May 21 to express worries that what was intended as a voluntary review process could become mandatory. He warned that this would hinder innovation and damage US competitiveness against China [1, 2].
Last-minute phone calls from Sacks, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly influenced Trump’s decision not to sign the order [1, 2]. However, Musk denied contacting Trump before the decision. "This is false. I still don’t know what was in that executive order and the president only spoke to me after declining to sign," Musk said [1]. Meta also disputed claims that Zuckerberg influenced Trump, stating Zuckerberg spoke to Trump only after the withdrawal [1, 2].
The draft order tried to address fears of government overreach by clarifying it did not establish mandatory AI licensing or approval requirements [1, 2]. The effort to draft the order was sparked in part by concerns over Anthropic’s Mythos AI model, which can identify vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure [1, 2].
The collapse of the executive order highlights ongoing difficulties within the US government and tech sector to agree on AI governance measures, with the country lagging behind regulatory advances in Europe and Asia [1, 2].
Following the order's withdrawal on May 21, media speculation about the influence of tech leaders surfaced on May 22 [1]. Coverage continued on May 23, including reports from Malay Mail about the event and denials by Musk and Meta [2].
