Nathaniel Whittemore

Indeed, that was the core policy of the draft that was circulated two weeks ago that seemed at the time like a done deal.

A signing ceremony had been scheduled.

A who's who of tech CEOs had been invited to attend.

However, hours before the event, President Trump pulled the order, stating, I didn't like certain aspects of it, and adding that he thought that it would get in the way of the U.S.

lead over China in the AI race.

Now, it later surfaced that former AI czar David Sachs had intervened at the 11th hour, placing a call to the president to talk him out of signing the policy, at least for now.

The order that was signed this week is substantially the same as the draft order that was scrapped a couple of weeks ago.

Both versions of the order made safety testing voluntary, although in the current climate that's not all that meaningful a distinction.

All major AI labs have agreed to submit advanced models for testing, and while some White House personnel were reportedly pushing for compulsory testing, it appears that that position never made it into a draft.

Indeed, it seems like the only significant change is that companies are encouraged to make their models available 30 days prior to public release, as opposed to the draft order which had asked for a 90-day period.

It was that 90-day period more than anything else that triggered industry backlash for its potential to significantly slow down the release cycle.

Neither version of the order provided any mechanism for the government to block a model's release.

In fact, one subtle change in the new version is an inclusion of a disclaimer which reads, "...nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of a mandatory government licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development of new AI models."

This sounds like a direct response to the critique that many had had that what the White House was doing with this executive order was a de facto licensing regime.

Functionally, however, the policy just allows the government to assess new capabilities before they're available to the public.

The NSA has been assigned primary responsibility for model testing with support from various cyber technology and defense agencies.

In addition to safety testing, the order establishes a cybersecurity clearinghouse run by the Treasury in consultation with the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

There's also provisions instructing civilian and military agencies to harden systems against AI-driven cybersecurity risk.

Outside of the 90 to 30-day switch, the other biggest difference with this version of the order is the way that it was presented to the public.

Rather than a high-profile signing ceremony, the order was signed in private with zero fanfare.