The White House announced on Monday that it met the deadline to produce a voluntary framework for evaluating advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models — however, it declined to disclose what the framework contains, who has seen it, or when companies will begin using it.
Why this matters
The framework has attracted attention beyond the companies it directly targets. Policymakers, AI safety advocates, and U.S. allies have been awaiting clarity on how the most powerful AI models will be governed.
What the White House said
"The voluntary framework outlined in the June 2nd executive order was complete by the deadline," a White House official said. The official added that "discussions with industry about next steps are underway," and that the administration is engaging with "many more" industry partners than just Anthropic, OpenAI and Google.
The three labs provided feedback on a draft of the framework ahead of the deadline.
What the framework is intended to do
The framework is designed to give AI developers a process for engaging the government to determine whether models under development fall under the executive order. It is meant to specify confidentiality, cybersecurity, insider-risk, intellectual-property protection and nondisclosure requirements that would apply when the government gains access to models for up to 30 days before they are released. The framework should also identify which "trusted partners" would receive early access.
Classified elements and limits on disclosure
The executive order explicitly states that the benchmarking process used to assess advanced cyber capabilities of AI models will be classified. The threshold that determines which models are covered by the order is also classified and will be shared with AI developers and researchers only "as appropriate."
The order does not classify the voluntary framework itself, and therefore policymakers and other observers had expected to see its details.
Between the lines: companies and transparency
Companies want early clarity so they can determine whether models in development are likely to be subject to the framework. A White House official noted: "Just because things are unclassified that doesn't mean we are going to broadcast them to everyone."
What’s next
A source familiar with the matter said the White House will hold a staff-level meeting with companies on Tuesday to review the framework.
(This article is based on the White House statement issued on Monday; the source referred to the meeting days as Monday and Tuesday.)
