Trump, Johnson to Host AI Leaders at White House Amid Safety Debate

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are scheduled to convene with leading executives from artificial intelligence firms at the White House on Tuesday. The gathering comes as legislators face mounting demands to address the rapid advancement of AI technology, which critics argue could pose significant risks to humanity.

According to sources familiar with the plans, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is expected to attend. Spokespeople confirmed that OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Palantir CEO Alex Karp will also be present. Additionally, sources indicate that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang plan to join the discussion.

Speaker Johnson emphasized that the dialogue aims to strike an appropriate equilibrium between oversight and technological progress. In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, the Louisiana Republican stated that excessive regulation would be detrimental to national security and stifle innovation. “Instead of just smothering this with red tape… we want to continue the innovation,” Johnson said, adding that the upcoming conversation would help guide policy.

The meeting follows a private dinner on Sunday between Trump and Amodei. While Amodei has advocated for industry safeguards, the president has previously resisted such measures, labeling some safety concerns as a “hoax.” Trump indicated earlier this month that he is considering the creation of a federal “AI force” and stated that regulations would be on the agenda during his discussions with tech leaders.

Some attendees of Tuesday’s meeting were also guests at last week’s state dinner hosted by Trump for Chinese President Xi Jinping, which included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The event highlighted the geopolitical dimensions of AI development.

Companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI have urged caution regarding the pace of AI advancement to mitigate potential dangers. Conversely, executives like Huang have dismissed these warnings as exaggerated, arguing that strict guardrails could compromise the United States’ competitive edge against China.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, announced Monday that he would not attend the White House meeting but expressed hope that the discussions would be productive. Thune noted that he plans to hold separate meetings with industry figures on Capitol Hill later in the week and subsequently met with Amodei at the Senate office buildings.

In a related development, several technology executives are also set to participate in a separate Washington event on Tuesday, where AI will be one of the key topics. Trump is expected to deliver remarks and launch a new federal online portal, according to a White House official.