WASHINGTON
—
After
weeks
of
delay,
the
White
House
issued
an
intensely
anticipated
executive
order
today
that
creates
a
new
“voluntary
framework”
for
government
oversight
of
cutting-edge
AI,
with
the
National
Security
Agency
playing
a
central
role.
The
“voluntary
framework”
in
the
executive
order
essentially
asks
that
companies
developing
“covered
frontier
models”
—
as
defined
by
the
NSA
—
give
government
agencies
and
select
“trusted
partners”
in
the
private
sector
early
access
to
their
models
for
30
days
prior
to
publication.
The
EO
does
not
detail
how
the
NSA
will
define
“covered
frontier
models,”
although
it
does
require
the
NSA
to
consult
with
a
wide
range
of
other
agencies,
from
Commerce
to
Homeland
Security
to
the
Treasury.
While
most
of
the
system
the
executive
order
set
up
is
indeed
voluntary,
there’s
no
opting-out
of
the
NSA
oversight.
Instead,
the
document
directs
the
NSA
to
“develop
and
maintain
a
classified
benchmarking
process
to
assess
the
advanced
cyber
capabilities
of
AI
models”
—
that
is,
to
assess
whether
or
not
any
given
AI
could
be
a
dangerously
powerful
tool
for
hackers.
The
AI
developers
themselves
may
or
may
not
be
informed
of
those
assessments,
“as
appropriate.”
As
Abundance
Institute
CEO
Christopher
Koopman
warned
in
a
post
on
X,
“Being
labeled
a
‘covered
frontier
model’
isn’t
voluntary
at
all.
“The
NSA
makes
that
call
through
a
classified
benchmark
you
can’t
see
or
contest,”
Koopman
wrote.
“Only
the
second
step,
when
you
hand
over
access,
is
the
part
you
opt
into.
You
can
decline
the
program.
You
can’t
decline
the
label.”
The
executive
order
strives
to
strike
a
balance
between
two
competing
imperatives:
It
aims
to
shore
up
cybersecurity
against
AI-powered
hacking,
without
imposing
burdensome
oversight
that
might
slow
down
American
AI
developers.
RELATED:
Top
Pentagon
tech
officials
optimistic
Mythos-style
AI
tools
will
improve
cyber
defense
The
cybersecurity
threat
is
that
the
latest
generative-AI
models,
most
famously
Claude
Mythos,
can
discover
thousands
of
previously
unknown
vulnerabilities
in
widely
used
software,
revealing
easy
targets
for
attackers
faster
than
defenders
can
fix
them.
After
discovering
Mythos’s
unintended
potential
as
a
hacking
tool,
developer
Anthropic
voluntarily
delayed
publication
of
Claude
Mythos
to
share
a
preview
version
with
150
key
players
in
the
cyber
defense
world,
hoping
a
grand
collaboration
could
patch
the
holes
before
they
became
known
to
foreign
adversaries
and
cyber
criminals.
The
30-day
voluntary
preview
period
announced
today
is
much
less
than
the
90
days
envisioned
by
an
earlier
version
of
the
executive
order,
which
President
Donald
Trump
publicly
rejected
just
hours
ahead
of
a
planned
signing
ceremony
last
month.
“[I]
didn’t
like
certain
aspects
of
it,”
Trump
told
reporters
at
the
time.
“We’re
leading
China,
we’re
leading
everybody,
and
I
don’t
want
to
do
anything
that’s
gonna
get
in
the
way
of
that
lead.”
White
House
AI
advisor
David
Sacks,
who
reportedly
led
the
charge
against
the
original
language,
declared
victory
in
a
post
on
on
X.com
today:
“The
change
in
the
EO
from
a
90
day
to
30
day
period
is
a
game
changer
because
it
allows
our
AI
labs
to
comply
with
the
voluntary
framework
without
delaying
new
model
releases.”