Trump Delays AI Executive Order After Pressure from Musk and Zuckerberg

President Trump postponed a planned AI executive order in May 2026 after last-minute pressure from tech leaders including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, according to reports from the Washington Post and Axios.

The order would have asked leading AI companies to voluntarily share advanced models with the government before public release for security testing. Tech executives pushed back, arguing the requirement would slow development and put U.S. companies at a disadvantage against Chinese competitors.

The delay reflects the ongoing tension between AI safety advocates and the tech industry over how to regulate frontier AI models. Safety researchers argue that pre-release testing is necessary to catch dangerous capabilities before they reach the public. Industry leaders counter that mandatory sharing creates security risks and slows the pace of innovation.

OpenAI reported approximately $5.7 billion in first-quarter 2026 revenue, driven by business adoption and its Codex coding agent. Anthropic is on track for its first profitable quarter, with projected Q2 revenue of $10.9 billion. Both companies have been active in lobbying on AI policy.

The Vatican created an AI study group in May 2026 to prepare an encyclical on AI and human dignity, adding a moral dimension to the governance debate. European officials have also raised concerns about AI sovereignty, warning that the continent risks becoming dependent on U.S. infrastructure.