Trump Says AI Companies Agree To Voluntary Oversight
The pact relies on industry self-policing instead of government rules to manage artificial intelligence risks while promoting rapid technological growth.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that major artificial intelligence firms signed a voluntary pact to evaluate their own systems during a White House meeting. Trump rejected government limits on the sector and said the United States would not hinder a technology that he compared to the Industrial Revolution.
The meeting brought together 31 industry figures, including Elon Musk, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI President Greg Brockman. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also attended the discussions.
The agreement, described by Trump as morally binding rather than legally enforceable, relies on internal evaluations and independent external audits. Zuckerberg said the measures establish robust internal safeguards to ensure programs function as developers intend. Musk said the framework would allow companies to evaluate one another.
The discussions occurred following safety concerns over automated systems and unauthorized access to government network data. Some executives, including Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei, reiterated that the technology poses serious risks that require careful management. Amodei said the exact mechanisms to address those dangers remain under discussion.
Trump said federal oversight already exists through existing law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI. He argued that heavy statutory mandates would hurt American competitiveness against foreign rivals such as China. Earlier in the day, the administration unveiled a federal chatbot called America.gov to assist citizens with public services.
The participants also discussed community pushback against large data centers required to run modern computing models. Trump said companies agreed to help communities hosting data centers by contributing to local schools and addressing local energy costs.
The pact notes that lawmakers could codify these safety standards into law later if needed. Trump said he plans to appoint an artificial intelligence czar and establish an oversight committee within days.
