The pro-AI movement is splintering

According to Axios, the pro-AI movement is fracturing over one central question: whether national security concerns should override the push to keep American AI companies ahead of China. The Trump administration has asked OpenAI to delay its latest model, GPT-5.6, releasing it in phases instead. It also suspended access to Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5—though Mythos has since returned on a limited basis after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Anthropic's government partnership had yielded "significant progress." David Sacks, Trump's former AI czar, argues these restrictions contradict the administration's own strategy. A year ago, Trump declared America was in a global AI race—and to win, America needed to stay pro-innovation. Restricting access to advanced models, Sacks warns, abandons that vision. But others see danger in the opposite direction. Kevin Bankston, an AI governance advisor, warns this could "crash the U.S. AI market." And security evaluations show Chinese AI systems have already caught up to America's best on cybersecurity—while open-source Chinese models are surging in usage. For investors, the uncertainty is the threat. Venture capitalist Paul Kedrosky calls it "hugely bearish"—if government controls when companies release their most valuable products, valuations could crater. Box CEO Aaron Levie points out that rapid competition between labs has driven AI's explosive progress; a government speed limit could upend that. The industry consensus: they want clear federal rules, not ad hoc decisions made behind closed doors. At least transparent standards would level the playing field.

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