Trump administration prepares voluntary framework for AI companies to submit models for government review

The White House is finalizing a voluntary framework that would create a standardized process for AI companies to submit their most advanced models for government review before releasing them to the public. A draft of the framework was circulated by the White House’s Office of the National Cyber Director around July 13-14, 2026, to major AI players including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. All three companies provided joint edits to the document. What the framework actually does The core idea is straightforward: replace the current ad-hoc national security reviews of advanced AI models with something more predictable and structured. The new framework would standardize how companies communicate with the government about their most capable systems before those systems hit the market. The framework is explicitly voluntary. No mandatory licensing. No preclearance requirements. No permitting regime. Companies have been cautious about fully committing until the testing rules are clearly defined. How the government defines testing, what counts as a frontier model, and how open-source releases are treated under the framework will determine whether this becomes a meaningful touchpoint between...