Trump signs AI executive order asking companies to give government early access to models

U.S. President Donald Trump points his finger as he signs an executive order on AI next to U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S. Dec. 11, 2025. Al Drago | Reuters President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order asking artificial intelligence companies to provide models to the federal government to assess their capabilities ahead of a full release. The order asks companies, on a voluntary basis, to participate in a benchmarking process to assess a model's "advanced cyber capabilities" and determine whether it should be considered a "covered frontier model." It then asks for access to those models up to 30 days before the companies plan to release them more broadly, and enables the government to help select the "trusted partners" that will receive early access. "Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of a mandatory governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models," the order said. Trump signed the order in private, just weeks after he postponed a signing ceremony with prominent tech CEOs because he "didn't like certain aspects of it," he told reporters at the time. The order, which is thin on specific details, lands at a pivotal moment for AI development in the U.S. …