It requires that following the AI Cyber Challenge at the DEF CON 2025 cybersecurity conference, the Defense and Energy Departments, along with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, should conduct a pilot program to determine how AI can enhance the cyber defense of critical infrastructure in the energy sector. It also requires the Pentagon to establish a program to use advanced AI models for cyber defense.
Will the Trump administration uphold the order?
It’s unclear how much of Biden’s last-minute executive order will be embraced by the Trump administration, which takes power on inauguration day, January 20.”You could see on January 20, after taking the oath of office, [Trump] could go to the Oval Office and sign a new executive order that repeals this, or he could, with his new cyber policy team, whoever the leaders are going to be, decide to review this and perhaps partially revoke some things,” Grant says. “Or they might review this and say, this is actually helpful to us.”
The chief factor determining how much of the EO is accepted or rejected by the Trump administration is who will ultimately be named to fulfill the top cybersecurity policy positions at the White House, at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and elsewhere in the federal government.
