Trump's abrupt reversal on popular AI policy caught insiders off guard: report

President Donald Trump seemed poised to lead the charge in regulating artificial intelligence this week, until some of his business buddies intervened, according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump reversed course on his planned executive order regulating AI at the eleventh hour after receiving pushback from his AI advisor, David Sacks; SpaceX founder Elon Musk; and a host of leaders from top AI companies. The reversal seemed to catch some administration officials off guard, especially considering its popularity among voters.

"Many administration officials were surprised by the president’s decision to cancel the event," according to the report. "Earlier in the week, Sacks had been briefed on the order by officials involved in its drafting, including science adviser Michael Kratsios, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross. Sacks told them he could live with the order, the person said, though he pushed to shorten the window for companies to share their models."

"The order is not dead, the federal official said, and it is likely to be revisited, though it is not clear what form it will take in the future," it added.

Trump's abrupt reversal came at a time when public polling shows half of Americans are concerned about the growing use of AI in daily life. A recent Pew Research poll found 50% of Americans are concerned about AI, and many more believe it will significantly disrupt the job market.