President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum accelerating AI adoption across federal defense agencies, putting cutting-edge AI tools directly into military hands. The directive, signed just days after an executive order to regulate the AI industry, establishes a framework for rapid onboarding of advanced AI models from multiple vendors. The White House claims this will provide "the most advanced AI in the world" to American warfighters.

Under the memo, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth must issue updated directives on autonomous weapon systems. Most significantly, the document prevents companies from altering AI models used by the military without prior approval, ensuring American warfighters depend on unmodified AI systems. The government plans to rapidly onboard the most advanced AI models from commercial and open-source sources for mission use.

The memo includes a critical limitation prohibiting defense agencies from creating AI models designed to "censor free speech, embed ideological bias or conduct unlawful surveillance." This follows Trump's earlier executive order granting the US government a 30-day review window for "frontier models" before public release. The administration appears focused on military AI deployment while attempting to regulate commercial AI development.