President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he and leaders of major artificial intelligence companies have signed a voluntary accord focused on safety controls. The agreement, unveiled during a meeting at the White House with House Speaker Mike Johnson, aims to address public anxieties regarding the rapid advancement of AI technology.
During an impromptu press conference outside the West Wing, Trump praised the “tremendous self-policing” he observed from industry executives. He emphasized that companies understand the necessity of monitoring their own development processes as they invest hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, including data centers that have faced bipartisan opposition in various communities.
Trump shared the accord on his social media platform, Truth Social, late Tuesday. The document outlines four voluntary steps for signatories: implementing robust internal controls, partnering with independent external auditors to assess those controls, establishing board-level committees to review audit reports, and acknowledging that these measures may eventually be codified into law. Trump described the agreement as “morally binding” and noted that approximately ten individuals would be named to a committee to oversee the initiative.
Signatories included Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk, representing his xAI entity now affiliated with SpaceX. Amodei, a prominent voice advocating for a slowdown in AI development following several high-profile incidents involving rogue AI agents, cautioned that the technology poses “very real risks” and that mechanisms for addressing them remain under discussion.
The White House event also featured the launch of America.gov, a new AI chatbot designed to assist Americans in navigating government services. Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted that the tool could eventually allow users to apply for passports entirely online, eliminating the need for in-person visits. Trump hailed the technology as a driver of a “Golden Age” fueled by “super intelligence,” vowing never to stifle its growth.
Addressing local opposition to data centers, Trump stated that companies agreed to provide greater financial support to local schools and take steps to reduce energy costs. He warned that without such accommodations, data center projects might be forced to relocate overseas.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also addressed safety concerns in a CNBC interview, revealing that the company recently halted the rollout of a new model due to safety issues. “We are pacing our progress, which includes sometimes not training a model,” Altman said, stressing the need to build confident safety cases to alleviate public anxiety.
While framing the AI race as a global competition between the United States and China, Trump indicated the US is currently leading. Although the two nations agreed last week to establish a channel for handling AI-related incidents during President Xi Jinping’s visit, Trump downplayed the extent of cooperation desired. “I didn’t want to do anything, because we’re leading. Why would I want to do anything?” he said.
I just hope the local opposition gets real results. Promises to fund schools mean nothing without strict legal enforcement attached.
Does anyone else find it ironic that they are using an AI chatbot to explain AI safety regulations right now?
It is genuinely surprising that OpenAI admitted to halting a model rollout. That level of transparency is rare and encouraging for safety advocates.
Voluntary? In this economy? I’ll believe it when I see actual penalties for violations, not just handshakes.