Kristian Stout Quoted in American Banker on Trump’s AI Cybersecurity Order
ICLE Director of Innovation Policy Kristian Stout was quoted in American Banker on president Trump’s AI EO, which would expand community banks’ access to AI cybersecurity tools while creating a volunrary federal review process for frontier AI models. Kristian though welcomed the order’s rejection of mandatory AI licensing, but warned that voluntary review should not become a de facto gatekeeping regime that slows innovation or gives officials undue leverage over model developers. Read the full paper here.
The International Center for Law & Economics gave the executive order high marks, yet said guardrails need to be established around the new government process.
The order “takes a more sensible approach to AI security by rejecting mandatory licensing, keeping pre-release engagement voluntary and emphasizing defensive deployment,” the Center’s Director of Innovation Policy Kristian Stout said in a statement.
But Stout warned that its voluntary review process could still become a de facto gatekeeping regime that favors incumbents, slows innovation or gives future administrations too much leverage over model developers.
“The order gets important things right,” Stout said. “It treats AI as a national-security issue without pretending every model should need a federal permission slip. That is a meaningful improvement over proposals that would turn frontier AI into a licensed industry.”
Stout worries that the new government framework could be used to “pressure developers on lawful content, pull them into surveillance beyond statutory limits, or slow the release of defensive tools Americans will need.”