Overview
- On Tuesday, June 2, President Trump privately signed an executive order asking AI developers to voluntarily give the federal government up to 30 days of pre‑release access to so‑called covered frontier models for evaluation.
- The order gives the White House OSTP, NIST and CISA 60 days to create a classified benchmarking system and directs the NSA to set thresholds that will determine which models qualify as covered frontier models.
- Agencies must also carry out rapid cybersecurity measures within roughly 30 days, including hardening Defense and federal networks and creating a voluntary coordination clearinghouse for AI firms and critical infrastructure operators.
- The move follows public clashes between the Pentagon and Anthropic, which the Pentagon labeled a supply‑chain risk and whose contract was ended, and Anthropic has sued to challenge that designation.
- The administration framed the order as protecting national security without slowing U.S. competitiveness with China, but the voluntary design leaves open legal fights, agency choices about thresholds, and how quickly firms will cooperate.