Donald Trump hosted leading technology executives at the White House, where companies signed a voluntary AI-safety accord covering internal controls and independent audits.
US President Donald Trump hosted executives from several of the world’s largest technology and artificial-intelligence companies at the White House on September 29, announcing a voluntary agreement intended to strengthen oversight of advanced AI systems.
The meeting brought together political leaders and representatives from companies including Google, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, xAI, AMD and Palantir.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice-President JD Vance and senior administration officials also attended the gathering, which focused on AI safety, American competitiveness and the rapid expansion of data-centre infrastructure.
Technology Companies Sign AI Accord
Trump said participating companies had signed a voluntary accord committing them to stronger internal safeguards and independent scrutiny of advanced AI systems.
The agreement calls on companies to establish internal controls, work with independent external auditors and create board-level mechanisms to consider audit findings.
Trump described the agreement as morally binding, but it does not have the force of federal legislation. The administration has indicated that additional measures could be considered if voluntary compliance proves insufficient.
Supporters argue that the arrangement could introduce safety checks without delaying innovation. Critics, however, question whether technology companies should be allowed to police themselves when commercial competition may encourage faster development.
Musk, Zuckerberg and Other Executives Attend
The meeting’s reported attendees included Elon Musk, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
OpenAI was represented by company president Greg Brockman, while CEO Sam Altman was reportedly attending an OpenAI event in San Francisco.
The executives hold different positions on AI regulation. Some frontier laboratories have called for stronger safeguards as systems become more capable, while other industry leaders warn that extensive regulation could weaken the United States in its technological competition with China.
Trump Backs Data-Centre Expansion
Trump used the gathering to reiterate his support for expanding the data centres, energy infrastructure and semiconductor capacity required to develop AI.
Large data-centre projects have attracted investment and created jobs but have also faced opposition over electricity consumption, water use and their effects on local utility bills.
The president said technology companies should provide tangible benefits to the communities hosting their facilities.
America.gov AI Service Launched
Trump also unveiled an AI-powered government service associated with America.gov, designed to help people find information and navigate federal services more easily.
The initiative forms part of the administration’s broader effort to use AI across government while positioning the United States as the global leader in the technology.
The White House is also reportedly considering the appointment of a senior official to coordinate AI policy and the creation of an advisory body focused on safety. Those proposals had not been finalised at the time of the meeting.
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