White House Cyber Policy Official Plans Exit

A top White House cyber policy official is set to leave her position, Nextgov/FCW reported Thursday (May 28), citing unnamed sources.

Alexandra Seymour, principal deputy assistant national cyber director for policy at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), plans to depart within two weeks, according to the report.

Seymour’s next role is not known, the report said.

The ONCD did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The reported move comes at a time when the ONCD aims to take a leading role in AI-related cyber policy matters, and it follows President Donald Trump’s decision to shelve an AI-related executive order amid industry concerns that it would create overregulation, according to the report.

It was reported May 21 that Trump said he delayed signing the executive order because he did not want to take any action that would slow the United States down in its AI race with China.

The order would have asked AI companies to preview models with the federal government before public release. It emerged from growing concerns inside the administration about cybersecurity risks tied to increasingly powerful AI systems.

The order would have asked national security and cyber officials to work with agency leaders and top AI companies to address software vulnerabilities identified by these powerful models. A separate cybersecurity section would have established a voluntary clearinghouse, led by the Treasury Department, to find and fix security vulnerabilities in unreleased models.

It was reported Friday (May 22) that the administration paused the effort as the White House was preparing for Trump to sign the measure during an afternoon event with executives from major AI companies.

The decision followed internal discussions and concerns raised by figures in the technology industry, including Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and investor David Sacks, according to media reports. However, Musk denied the report, saying that he didn’t know what was in the executive and that he didn’t speak with Trump until the president had already declined to sign the order.

Before the president decided not to sign the order, it was reported that ONCD was among the government agencies that the order would have allowed to determine which models were subject to review.