Trump's AI Evaluations Order: Right Policy, Unfinished Governance

InnovationAITrump's AI Evaluations Order: Right Policy, Unfinished GovernanceByPaulo Carvão,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Paulo Carvão is a Senior Fellow at HarvardFollow AuthorJun 02, 2026, 03:18pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A classified federal AI review process may strengthen national security, but its legitimacy will depend on public accountability.gettyPresident Trump’s new executive order establishes a national policy for pre-deployment AI evaluations. That is a step in the right direction and a departure from the strictly deregulatory approach taken by his administration. Whether a classified, voluntary process can earn public trust at a time when the government and leading AI companies already appear too close for comfort is a question the order leaves open.In an article last month, I wrote that Washington was moving toward a version of pre-deployment AI evaluation, previously seen in Chinese AI policy. China uses pre-release controls as part of a state-centered governance model. The United States has resisted that path, preferring innovation, market competition and lighter-touch oversight. The June 2 executive order shows that even Washington’s deregulatory posture now has limits. When frontier AI models may materially affect cybersecurity, national security and critical infrastructure, “release first and respond later” is no longer an acceptable policy.The executive order is narrow, and this is important. Sections 1 and 2 set the objective and then focus mostly on internal government capacity, cyber defense and coordination across federal systems and critical infrastructure. Those are legitimate national priorities. The United States should modernize its cyber defenses, help rural hospitals, local utilities and community banks harden their systems and build stronger AI-enabled defensive capabilities.Still,...