President Donald Trump postponed the signing of an executive order on artificial intelligence cybersecurity Thursday, announcing the delay hours before the scheduled Oval Office ceremony.

Trump said he called off the event because he was concerned about provisions in the proposed order that could negatively impact the AI industry. "We're leading China, we're leading everybody, and I don't want to do anything that's going to get in the way of that lead," Trump told reporters during an unrelated Oval Office event.

The executive order would have granted the government authority to evaluate AI models before their public release, according to administration officials. The proposal came amid growing concerns within the banking industry and other institutions about AI systems' ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities in software.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly highlighted the cyber capabilities of Anthropic's Mythos model, which the AI company has not made widely available to the public. The push for government oversight of powerful AI systems reflects broader worries about the technology's rapid advancement and potential security implications.

The postponement represents a shift in approach as the administration weighs regulatory oversight against maintaining competitive advantages in the global AI race. No new timeline was provided for when the executive order might be reconsidered or revised.