Federal agencies must expand oversight of advanced AI systems under a cybersecurity-focused artificial intelligence executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the administration’s latest attempt to foster innovation while addressing fears of AI-enabled cyber attacks.
The directive orders less federal oversight of AI models than an proposed version that was scuttled two weeks ago after industry complaints of overregulation.
The order encourages companies developing cutting-edge AI systems to give the federal government 30 days of pre-public access to those models, and limited early access for certain critical infrastructure operators. An earlier outline of the order viewed by Nextgov/FCW asked for 90 days’ pre-public access.
The new version of the order also forbids federal agencies to impose licensing or preclearance requirements on AI products.
Another section of the order directs agencies to secure Defense Department and other national-security networks within 30 days. Another includes a binding operational directive to secure federal civilian networks and facilitate access to frontier AI models across critical infrastructure sectors, including hospitals, banks, utilities and state and local governments, which must also be issued within 30 days.
It also calls for the Treasury Department — with support from the Office of the National Cyber Director, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — to establish a voluntary coordination clearinghouse for the government, AI companies, and critical infrastructure operators.
Additional provisions direct the Office of Management and Budget to identify federal grant funding that could support AI vulnerability-detection efforts within 30 days.
It also tasks the Office of Personnel Management with increasing cyber hiring via the U.S. Tech Force within 60 days. The Tech Force, launched in December to recruit cyber talent, had onboarded just 10 employees as of late Mau.
The directive also aims to establish a government framework for overseeing advanced AI systems, including the creation of a classified benchmarking process to determine which models qualify as “covered frontier models.” The order gives the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, CISA, and others 60 days to establish the classified evaluation process.
The NSA, in consultation with those agencies, would then be tasked with formally determining which AI systems meet the threshold. The NSA’s involvement in these efforts was reported in May by Nextgov/FCW.
The Commerce secretary is tasked to help develop a classified AI benchmarking process that will inform the voluntary framework for AI developers. The order says the secretary will work “through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology,” a caveat that wasn’t included in the initial draft, per a copy posted last month by Politico.
The administration’s approach to AI has shifted in recent months amid the emergence of Anthropic’s Mythos, a powerful cybersecurity-focused AI model that has driven government discussions about how advanced AI systems can rapidly uncover vulnerabilities across computer networks.
OpenAI’s recent release of GPT-5.5-Cyber, which has also demonstrated sophisticated cyber capabilities, has further heightened concerns in Washington over how quickly these systems are advancing and how they could reshape cyber defensive and offensive operations.
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