White House mulls tighter controls on advanced AI

So the White House is ‘considering’ tighter controls on advanced AI. Seven tech industry representatives and policy advisers have apparently been briefed on a slate of executive actions, including a vetting regime to review national security risks. Because nothing says ‘decisive action’ like a leaked discussion document passed around by lobbyists before any actual ink hits paper.

This is the same administration that has spent months deregulating everything that moves, suddenly discovering that frontier models might need a bit of looking at. The proposed vetting regime sounds serious — until you realise it’s an executive order, which the next president can shred with the stroke of a pen. And the fine print? It’s ‘mulling’ — a word that in Washington means ‘we’ve formed a committee to form a committee.’ Expect the final ‘action’ to be a strongly worded letter of concern.

The timing is exquisite: the same week that CAISI announced voluntary agreements with Google, Microsoft, and xAI, the White House wants to look like it’s doing something. Voluntary agreements, mulled actions — the playbook is getting tired. Meanwhile, models keep getting smarter, and the gap between what’s possible and what’s policed grows wider. Perhaps the next advisory board will suggest a strongly worded letter of *national* security concern. That should fix everything.