President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a highly anticipated AI executive order signing ceremony on Thursday, which was originally aimed at strengthening government regulation of artificial intelligence. According to insiders, the executive order collapsed completely within the White House and under strong opposition from tech giants just hours before the signing ceremony.

It is reported that Trump had little interest in regulating artificial intelligence from the beginning. Afterward, he publicly told the media that he did not like certain provisions of the executive order, fearing that overly strict regulations could become a stumbling block, hindering the United States' global leadership in the AI industry.

Big Tech Companies' Late-Night Lobbying Turned the Tide

The core reason for the last-minute cancellation of the executive order was the joint lobbying behind the scenes by tech leaders. In the night before and early morning of the scheduled signing ceremony, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, founder of xAI, had direct calls with Trump.

These two tech moguls and David Sacks, White House AI advisor, all expressed strong opposition to the executive order. They generally believed that the regulatory bill pushed by "AI pessimists" was unnecessary and would only put shackles on American tech companies during their period of rapid development.

Departmental Power Struggles Caused Internal Conflicts in the White House

In addition to resistance from big tech companies, the draft executive order also sparked fierce power struggles within the government. Agencies such as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which had previously played a leading role in cybersecurity and technology reviews, were deeply dissatisfied with the arrangement in the draft that gave the Treasury Department central control.

Additionally, the draft required companies to share data with the government up to 90 days in advance before releasing models, which triggered disputes over whether it would hinder security testing with U.S. allies. Currently, the "pro-acceleration" faction has gained the upper hand within the White House, and the text of the executive order is becoming increasingly difficult to coordinate amid various interests.