WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) – The White House said on Friday it would accelerate the development and use of AI for national security applications, while stressing that the technology should not be used to carry out unlawful surveillance.
The Trump administration said earlier this week that it would ask leading AI developers to voluntarily submit their most capable models for government cybersecurity tests before releasing them to the public, as security fears mount in Washington over powerful new AI systems.
“Under my Administration, the United States can and will responsibly accelerate the use of AI across intelligence and warfighting domains in line with American values,” President Donald Trump said in a national security memorandum.
Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had 90 days to update an existing directive on the autonomy of weapons systems “to ensure the deliberate adoption of AI systems that respect the chain of command.”
Trump added that AI technologies should not be developed or used by the national security enterprise “to censor free speech … or conduct unauthorized or unlawful surveillance activities.”
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Rosalba O’Brien)
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