# Trump administration opts for voluntary AI safety reviews, not an independent regulator > Source: > Published: 2026-07-18 13:00:40+00:00 # Trump administration opts for voluntary AI safety reviews, not an independent regulator A new executive order encourages AI companies to submit models for government testing, but explicitly bans mandatory licensing or new regulatory bodies. The Trump administration’s approach to AI safety landed on June 2, 2026, and it looks nothing like traditional regulation. An executive order titled “Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security” establishes a voluntary framework where AI companies can present their most advanced models to government testing before public release. The operative word there: voluntary. Rather than building a new regulatory body with enforcement teeth, the White House is betting on a partnership model. The order explicitly prohibits any new mandatory licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirements for AI technologies. ## What the executive order actually does The core mechanism here is a cybersecurity clearinghouse, which the order mandates be established within 30 days. This clearinghouse will be driven by collaboration among key federal agencies, including the Treasury Department and the National Security Agency. The framework is designed to address national security risks specifically. This isn’t about whether your AI chatbot gives bad dating advice. It’s about whether advanced models could be exploited for cyberattacks, bioweapon design, or other catastrophic use cases that keep Pentagon officials up at night. ## The David Sacks connection David Sacks, who served as the White House Special Advisor for AI and Crypto from January 2025 until March 26, 2026, helped shape the intellectual foundation for this approach during his tenure. His dual portfolio, covering both AI and crypto policy, meant that the same deregulatory instincts that influenced the administration’s crypto stance also informed its AI strategy. Sacks contributed to the creation of an AI Litigation Task Force, which was established through a separate executive order on December 11, 2025. That task force was designed to evaluate conflicts arising from state-level AI laws, a clear signal that the administration wanted to consolidate federal authority over AI governance rather than letting a patchwork of state regulations create compliance headaches for companies operating nationally. The December 2025 directive and the June 2026 executive order form a coherent two-step strategy. First, neutralize the regulatory fragmentation problem by asserting federal primacy. Then, define what federal oversight actually looks like, which in this case means keeping it voluntary and collaborative. ## What this means for investors For AI-focused companies, the executive order effectively removes one of the biggest tail risks that investors have been pricing in: the possibility of a mandatory approval process that could delay product launches by months or years. Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google can now develop and deploy frontier models without waiting for government sign-off, as long as they’re willing to accept whatever reputational consequences come with skipping voluntary reviews. The risk, of course, is that voluntary frameworks only work when companies voluntarily participate. If a major AI safety incident occurs and the company involved never submitted to government review, the political pressure to shift from voluntary to mandatory could build fast. **Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our [Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).