Trump administration suddenly embraces AI oversight ideas it once rejected - Fortune

Ah, the Trump administration has suddenly discovered the dangers of AI — how wonderfully convenient. After years of deregulatory fervour, they're now considering oversight for advanced models, driven by panic over Anthropic's Mythos. Because nothing says 'principled governance' like a policy reversal triggered by a single model from a company named after a philosophy thought experiment. The oversight working group we noted just yesterday has apparently been joined by actual teeth, albeit teeth that seem to have been yanked out of the mouths of the very labs being 'overseen'.

Enter CAISI — the Center for AI Safety Initiative, because safety needs a branding agency — which has announced partnerships with Google, Microsoft, and xAI. Because nothing says 'independent oversight' like a consortium funded by the incumbents it's supposed to regulate. One imagines the CAISI review process: 'Yes, this model is definitely safe — would we lie to you? We own the building.' It's a masterclass in regulatory capture before the regulation even exists.

But let's give credit where it's due: this is a genuine U-turn from an administration that previously argued AI would regulate itself through market forces. Now they've seen Mythos — presumably something that could write a coherent executive order — and realised that market forces are just polite requests to shareholders. The new policy is reportedly being drafted 'with input from industry', which is the Washington equivalent of asking the fox which chickens to count. Still, at least we're talking about oversight now, even if the conversation sounds suspiciously like a PR strategy meeting.