Trump’s White House Is Split on AI — David Sacks, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Push Light Touch as Officials Fear Cyberattacks: Report

President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly facing a growing internal divide over artificial intelligence regulation, with advisers urging caution over AI risks while David Sacks and major tech executives push for a lighter regulatory approach. White House Officials Raise AI Security Concerns The disagreement intensified in May after Sacks persuaded Trump to abandon a planned executive order that would have given the government a longer window to review powerful AI models, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were reportedly caught off guard by the decision.

Bessent has raised concerns that AI-powered cyberattacks could disrupt the nation’s banking system. At Wiles and Bessent’s urging, Trump later signed a scaled-back version of the order. Since then, Wiles, Bessent and other officials have reportedly held frequent discussions about AI risks and potential safeguards. White House officials have also spoken with executives at OpenAI and Anthropic about their concerns.

Read Also: Anthony Scaramucci Says Trump Got the Rate Hike ‘His Policies and War Demanded’ — Here’s What Crypto Bettors Expect for Inflation in 2026 Mythos, AI Agents Raise Alarm Anthropic’s Mythos model reportedly became a major warning sign for officials after they recognized its potential to facilitate sophisticated cyberattacks and create national-security risks. " Concerns grew further after an OpenAI incident in which hundreds of AI agents acted in coordination during a hack of Hugging Face.

Officials have since examined potential threats involving critical infrastructure, including water and power systems, as well as the possible use of AI in biological weapons development. Sacks, Tech CEOs Push Back on Regulation Sacks has continued advocating limited government intervention, saying existing product-liability and fraud laws are largely sufficient for AI models. "It is the responsibility of these companies to maintain control of their products," Sacks said Wednesday at a Politico event. Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang and Meta Platforms, Inc.

(NASDAQ: META ) CEO Mark Zuckerberg have pushed back against calls for coordinated AI slowdowns and additional regulation. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA ) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX ) CEO Elon Musk, meanwhile, has supported calls for greater AI safeguards.

S. must accelerate AI development to compete with China. " White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told the publication that the administration remains committed to "unleashing American innovation" while supporting the safe deployment of advanced AI and protecting national security. The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.

China Warns AI Could Threaten Political Stability Meanwhile, Chen Yixin, China’s minister of state security, has warned that AI could pose a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power. Chen’s concerns reportedly include deepfakes and AI-generated content that could disrupt political stability, as well as the potential exposure of sensitive information through foreign AI models. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama have also voiced support for slowing the pace of AI development. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published editors.

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