Musk, Zuckerberg and Sacks called out Trump. A few minutes later, he walked away from signing an executive order for AI | Today’s news

President Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called off signing a highly anticipated executive order on artificial intelligence, hours after the White House sent out invitations to executives from the nation’s top technology companies to attend a formal ceremony, The Washington Post reported.

Some of these executives had already traveled to Washington DC when news broke that the event had been postponed.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he canceled the signing because he “didn’t like” the draft order. “I really thought it could have been a blocker,” he said, pointing to AI’s role in the broader U.S. economy. “And I want to make sure that’s not the case.

Who Made the Calls: Musk, Zuckerberg and former AI czar David Sacks

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg were among the tech figures who contacted Trump in the hours before the ceremony, according to a WaPo report citing three people familiar with the matter. Former AI and crypto czar David Sacks, who has since left his formal role in the White House, also played a central role in persuading the president to step down.

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Their common argument was straightforward: the administration’s proposed vetting system, while described as voluntary, risked acting as a drag on the development of artificial intelligence at a time when the technology is at the heart of the American economy.

The episode offered a striking illustration of how much influence Silicon Valley retains in the Trump administration, even as figures like Sacks and Musk have stepped down from their official positions.

What the draft executive order actually said

The order, which Trump chose not to sign, was drafted over weeks of discussion with significant input from the tech industry. It would create a voluntary system requiring companies to provide the government with an advanced view of frontier AI systems up to 90 days before publication. The stated purpose was to allow agencies to test models of dangerous capabilities, identify vulnerabilities and deploy defenses before hackers or foreign adversaries could exploit newly released systems.

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The draft carefully distanced itself from mandatory regulation. “Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the creation of a mandatory governmental licensing, prior authorization, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new models, including frontier models,” it said.

Officials involved in the proposal described it as a balanced document that took seriously both the security concerns of government agencies and the commercial interests of industry.

Why tech leaders pushed: The de facto mandatory regime argument

Despite the voluntary framing, Sacks and the technology executives who contacted Trump argued that the system would operate as a mandatory regime in practice. Companies, they warned, would feel compelled to seek government permission before releasing systems, regardless of what the order said on paper, for fear of the consequences of proceeding without it.

Sacks also expressed concern that the review process could slow companies from releasing even incremental updates to existing AI models. White House officials disputed that reading, arguing that the order required companies to share boundary models up to 90 days in advance and that the process would not capture minor updates.

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Another argument from Sacks carried special weight. He warned that even if the current administration applied a light-touch vetting system, a future administration could use it as a weapon, citing tougher AI regulations put in place under former President Joe Biden. Officials also pushed back on that point, noting that a future administration would not be bound by the current order regardless.

Internal disagreements continued late into Wednesday night, with officials divided over how burdensome the proposal would actually be on the industry.

China, security and the rationale for maintaining order

Not everyone in the administration was convinced by the arguments against. Some officials have argued that without a structured review process, China could manipulate newly released AI models to launch attacks on US infrastructure and systems.

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But Sacks set the calculus differently, warning the president that long-term government controls could slow American innovation and give China an advantage in the global race for artificial intelligence leadership.

That argument, combined with pressure from Musk, Zuckerberg and others, eventually carried the day.

The signing ceremony that never happened

The sequence of events on Thursday was startling in what it revealed about the speed and informality of the decision. The White House has already sent out invitations. The managers arranged the trip. And yet, a few hours before the ceremony began, attendees received an email informing them that it would not take place.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and will contact you with further details on a future date as soon as possible,” the email read.

Many administration officials were caught off guard by the cancellation. Earlier in the week, Sacks was briefed on the order by science adviser Michael Kratsios, White House staff secretary Will Scharf and national cyber director Sean Cairncross. At the time, he indicated he could live with the order, though he tried to shorten the window for sharing in advance.