Anticipated executive order could give NSA a role in voluntary AI model testing
Anticipated executive order could give NSA a role in voluntary AI model testing
Publish Date: 2026-05-20 10:31:00
Source Domain: www.nextgov.com
White House officials are planning a provision in a forthcoming artificial intelligence executive order that would establish a voluntary information-sharing framework between the government and AI developers to facilitate safety testing of AI models before deployment, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The National Security Agency is expected to play a key role under the order and would potentially handle classified testing of models offered up by AI labs before those models are publicly distributed, said some of the people. All sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details concerning the order, which they said could be unveiled later this week.
The people also cautioned that decisionmaking in the White House is highly fluid and that details and timing around the final version of the directive may change.
The deliberations over a voluntary framework underscore how the White House is trying to balance competing views within the administration, with some officials and allies pushing for stronger AI safeguards and others favoring a more hands-off approach to the technology to encourage innovation, a stance that’s consistent with prior policy actions.
The plans also appear to show that the Trump administration prefers the intelligence community to lead on AI model testing. The Washington Post reported this month that spy agencies and the Commerce Department are at odds over who should handle model evaluation tasks.
An NSA spokesperson referred Nextgov/FCW to the White House.
“Any policy announcement will come directly from the president. Discussion about potential executive orders is speculation,” a White House official told Nextgov/FCW.
Axios first reported details about the order.
Voluntary pre-deployment testing could give government officials an opportunity to evaluate advanced AI models for cyber-related risks before they are broadly released, including whether the systems can assist with vulnerability…
