Technology

The Big Story

Trump abruptly punts AI executive order

President Trump postponed the signing ceremony for his long-awaited executive order on a voluntary testing process for artificial intelligence models, with Trump saying he “didn’t like certain aspects of it.”

The White House told invited tech leaders Thursday morning that the ceremony was off, just hours before the expected afternoon signing, two sources familiar told The Hill.

“I postponed it,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “I think it gets in the way of ... we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead.”

“I really thought [the executive order] could’ve been a blocker” to the country’s AI development, Trump continued.

The order was expected to lay out a process for AI companies to volunteer their models for government testing ahead of public release.

It follows weeks of anticipation over how the White House would respond to new cybersecurity AI models, including Anthropic’s Mythos, the company’s most advanced model to date.

The model’s release shook the administration’s commitment to its typical hands-off approach, prompting discussions about the government’s involvement in new model rollouts.

But Trump’s latest comments indicate concerns remain over whether even a voluntary process could hamper innovation.

Read more at TheHill.com

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:

HHS warns of children’s screen time use, citing impact on sleep, mental health

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) warned about children’s screen time in an advisory released Wednesday, citing impacts on sleep and mental health. The “Surgeon General’s Warning on the Harms of Screen Use” states that “harmful screen use among children and adolescents has become a public health concern; growing up surrounded by screens of all types—televisions, computers, tablets, smartphones—is now the …

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Meta becomes latest to settle social media addiction case ahead of June bellwether trial

Meta has settled a federal lawsuit over social media addiction just weeks before the bellwether trial was slated to start in June, joining three other technology firms that settled earlier this month. Meta and attorneys for the Breathitt County, Ky., Board of Education, confirmed the settlement to The Hill on Thursday, resolving claims that the Facebook and Instagram parent company intentionally designed its platforms to keep …

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Newsom signs order aimed at tackling AI job displacement

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order Thursday aimed at addressing potential job losses from AI, as workers face an uncertain future with a technology that industry leaders themselves warn could have significant impacts on the labor market. The order directs state agencies to evaluate policies that provide support to displaced workers — such as compensation offerings, temporary subsidized employment programs …

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The Refresh

News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:

Elon Musk’s Grok falls flat in Washington (Reuters)
Microsoft, Anthropic in talks for AI chip deal (CNBC)

Crypto Corner

Crypto PAC jumps into midterm races

The Blockchain Leadership Fund, a relatively new cryptocurrency PAC, is backing 10 Senate and House candidates in its first foray into the midterm elections since launching in late March.

The hybrid PAC, backed by Anchorage Digital, announced its first slate of endorsements Thursday.

This included three GOP Senate candidates — Rep. Barry Moore in Alabama, former U.S. attorney Kurt Alme in Montana and Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio — as well as Rep. Angie Craig, a Democratic Senate candidate in Minnesota.

Husted is running against former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), whose ouster in 2024 was widely viewed as a success for the crypto industry.

Craig serves as the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, which is a key player in the push to pass crypto regulation.

The PAC is also throwing its support behind six House candidates.

Among the Republicans are state Rep. Houston Gaines in Georgia, Jim Kingston in Georgia and Jon Bonck in Texas. The Democrats include state Delegate Adrian Boafo in Maryland, Rep. Christian Menefee in Texas and Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina.

Crypto Corner is a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

In Other News

Branch out with other reads on The Hill:

SpaceX reveals plans for what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk announced plans Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever by taking public a space company that is currently losing billions of dollars a year. A filing shows that his SpaceX lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too. The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various …

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