According to a letter, two Democratic senators are asking Trump administration officials to explain the tech industry's influence over an undisclosed artificial intelligence regulatory framework. The framework is part of an AI executive order signed by President Trump earlier this year.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote in the letter: "We are concerned that the Trump administration is catering to the interests of Big Tech CEOs rather than addressing the safety and security risks posed by increasingly complex AI systems." The letter was sent to officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House cybersecurity advisor Sean Cairncross, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

The letter cited reports about the tech industry's influence over the final executive order. It also specifically mentioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's central role in shaping the White House's recent AI agreements, and alleged an "intimate relationship" between the Trump administration and tech industry executives, as well as being "overly deferential to industry executives."

The letter further demonstrates that Democrats continue to demand explanations from the government regarding this still largely mysterious voluntary framework. Under this framework, AI companies can submit their highest-tier AI models to the U.S. government before releasing them. If Democrats regain control of Congress, their related demands will carry stronger binding force.

Warren and Blumenthal wrote in the letter on Monday: "The American people need strong protective rules made by elected officials, not a non-binding framework secretly shaped by a handful of billionaires." The two senators are asking the government to answer five questions by October 19. They are demanding disclosure of details regarding meetings and communications between tech industry figures and government officials before the executive order was issued in June of this year. They are also asking the government to explain whether independent evaluation agencies or other stakeholders outside the tech industry were consulted when developing this framework, and are requesting a detailed description of the pre-deployment testing process for AI models established by the framework.