Former Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence Sriram Krishnan said the White House will not create a centralized AI licensing body akin to the Food and Drug Administration.
Krishnan Rules Out AI Licensing
“This administration… has been against burdensome, onerous, bureaucratic red tape,” Krishnan told the Financial Times, as reported on Friday. He added officials aren’t “picking winners and losers.”
According to the report, Krishnan also said setting up a centralized agency to license AI models would put “sand in the gears” of the industry, requiring “a team of lawyers before you can get a model out.” He added flatly: “That is never, never going to happen under President Trump.”
Krishnan Blames Industry, Not Policy, for AI Backlash
Most Americans support strict AI regulations, and at least 75 U.S. data center projects worth about $130 billion faced local opposition in the first three months of 2026.
In his interview with the Financial Times, the Indian American public policy adviser said the broader backlash stems from the AI industry’s own messaging rather than government policy. He said AI labs have “done a terrible job” explaining the technology’s benefits, arguing that their focus on “dystopian narrative and scenarios,” including job losses and existential risk, has left people wary.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban made a similar point in June, saying data center opposition is really “a proxy for the hate towards AI and the concentration and accumulation of wealth it’s creating.”
Industry Self-Policing Favored Over Formal Rules
Krishnan pointed to a recent executive order creating a voluntary framework giving the government 30 days to review a model before release. In the longer term, he favors shifting oversight to an industry-run “clearinghouse” that works with intelligence and defense officials, rather than formal regulation.
He warned that holding back AI tools for weeks “would probably be bad for American innovation,” and has separately argued that excessive regulation could let Chinese companies overtake U.S. AI labs.
Krishnan Defends Anthropic’s Mythos Halt
According to the Financial Times, he also addressed export controls used to pause Anthropic‘s Mythos model over a security flaw flagged by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), saying he supported the move despite it being taken “very, very reluctantly,” and denied it targeted Anthropic over its Pentagon dispute.
Krishnan’s departure from the White House last week followed AI czar David Sacks‘ exit from his formal role, marking a shift in Silicon Valley’s direct presence in the administration.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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