Trump Announces Voluntary AI Accord With Tech Leaders

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that leaders from major artificial intelligence companies have signed a voluntary accord aimed at addressing public concerns about the technology through internal and external reviews. The agreement was reached during a White House meeting.

"I think I’m seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police," Trump told reporters. He met with executives from companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure, a development that has faced grassroots opposition in communities hosting new data centers.

Some industry leaders, however, expressed nuanced views. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, acknowledged the "very real risks" associated with AI and noted that mechanisms for addressing them are still under discussion. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated the accord includes commitments to robust internal controls and auditing processes, with findings to be reviewed by company boards.

Trump described the accord as "morally binding" and indicated he would appoint a committee to oversee the initiative. He also suggested that data centers, a source of bipartisan opposition due to their environmental and cost impacts, would become more popular if companies provided greater local financial support or reduced energy costs, warning that resistance could push development overseas.

Earlier in the day, Trump unveiled an AI chatbot named America.gov, designed to assist Americans in navigating government services. He emphasized that the U.S. government would not stifle AI development, comparing its potential to the industrial revolution and asserting American leadership in the field.

Executives present at the meetings included Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon; and Elon Musk, whose X platform incorporates an AI model called Grok. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also attended.

Separately, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated on CNBC that the company is prioritizing safety and pacing its progress, sometimes choosing not to train models until safety can be confidently assured. This comes after OpenAI temporarily halted the rollout of a new model due to safety concerns.

Trump framed the advancement of AI as a competitive race, particularly between the United States and China, asserting that the U.S. must lead. While the U.S. and China have agreed to establish a channel for AI-related incidents, Trump expressed a reluctance to engage in extensive cooperation, stating, "We’re leading. Why would I want to do anything?"