“The Trump administration is taking a softer but still coercive route by using federal contracts as leverage,” Secreto said. “That creates strong pressure for companies to self-censor in order to stay in the government’s good graces and keep the money flowing.”

In a speech ahead of the signings, Trump vowed that the US government would now “deal only with AI that pursues truth, fairness and strict impartiality”. A senior administration official said that the General Service Administration,