The Trump administration wants to boost the use of artificial intelligence for security in a way that doesn’t increase the number of targets for adversaries to attack, a top official with the Office of the National Cyber Director said Thursday.

The administration will “promote the rapid implementation of AI enabled cyber defensive tools to detect, divert and deceive threat actors who continue targeting our vital systems and sectors,” Alexandra Seymour, principal deputy assistant cyber director for policy, said at CyberTalks, presented by CyberScoop. “We want to ensure that as Americans, companies and agencies deploy AI to defend themselves, they are not inadvertently making themselves more vulnerable by widening the attack surface.”

Overall, “We’re working with our interagency and White House colleagues to promote AI-driven success while addressing concerns about AI security and countering AI abuse by adversaries,” she said.

The focus on AI is expected to get further attention from a forthcoming national cyber strategy and the implementation of that strategy due to follow.

“We are prioritizing rapid but secure AI development and diffusion,” Seymour said. “From the start, we will support a full range of counter-AI efforts, assuring our frontier models and countering adversary AI that controls or threatens citizens.”

Seymour reiterated how that means promoting U.S. AI cybersecurity standards and norms, but also  “establishing industry best practices for secure AI deployment and harnessing the full potential of AI tools.”

One of the six pillars of that forthcoming strategy is focused on strengthening the cybersecurity workforce. The administration wants to consolidate existing efforts, drawing on the work of companies, government, academia, vocational schools and venture capital, Seymour said.

The administration wants to align “curriculum, workforce standards, cyber literacy, awards and job placement,” she said.

Seymour said one thing the administration hopes to emulate is Israel’s Unit 8200, an intelligence arm of the Israeli government that counts cyberwarfare among its missions. Its practices for training young talent includes boot camp-like classes and exercises.

“The White House does not want to reinvent the wheel, because we recognize the magnitude of great work in the space across the public and private sectors to train and upskill the cyber workforce,” Seymour said. “Rather, we hope to bring these existing resources all together to build a workforce pipeline that is clear, accessible and responsive to cyber skill gaps, including those related to emerging technologies such as AI and quantum.”

The Trump administration has shed personnel at major cyber agencies across the government.

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The U.S. government wants the rest of the world to adopt its artificial intelligence cybersecurity standards, a top official with the Office of the National Cyber Director said Thursday.

As part of an effort to advance American AI, the administration will be “undertaking diplomacy efforts to promote American AI cybersecurity standards and norms, establishing industry best practices for secure AI deployment and harnessing the full potential of AI tools,” said Alexandra Seymour, principal deputy assistant national cyber director for policy.

Seymour’s comments at the 2026 Identity, Authentication, and the Road Ahead Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. partially reflect the  Trump administration’s AI Action Plan released last summer, which said the departments of Commerce and State would “vigorously advocate for international AI governance approaches that promote innovation, reflect American values, and counter authoritarian influence,” but doesn’t explicitly mention international promotion of cybersecurity standards.

Some of that effort has already materialized, with internationally oriented guides released in both May and December. The United States also isn’t the only one looking to influence international standards for AI security.

AI also figures into the yet-to-be-released national cybersecurity strategy that Seymour’s office has been developing. And it dovetails with a pillar of the strategy focused on defending federal networks.

“While AI is already helping industries enhance security and address the challenge of escalating cyberattacks, this administration will promote the rapid implementation of AI-enabled cyber defensive tools to detect, divert and deceive threat actors who continue targeting our vital systems and sectors on our federal systems,” Seymour said. “We must get our house in order. They need rapid modernization, and we’re working on policies to harden our networks, update our technologies and ensure we’re prepared for a post-quantum future.”

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