Trump hails ‘morally binding’ AI self-regulation pledge

WASHINGTON: On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump declared that tech executives attending a White House meeting on superintelligence had made a morally binding pledge to implement robust safeguards for the rapidly advancing technology. Trump asserted that these leaders would self-police through their commitment, though the agreement lacked legal enforcement.

Speaking alongside industry heavyweights such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Greg Brockman, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Trump announced the technology would henceforth be referred to as "superintelligence" rather than "artificial intelligence."

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the accord would include internal controls and multiple layers of auditing, ranging from internal risk assessments to external audits overseen by corporate boards. The meeting also featured Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and Google's Sundar Pichai, with two women in attendance: Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles and AMD CEO Lisa Su.

The gathering occurred amid growing public concern over AI in Washington, where lawmakers face pressure from voters to regulate or limit AI development due to fears of worker displacement and societal disruption.

The focus on AI has become a flashpoint in midterm election races, with public warnings from major AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI about uncontrolled development. Anthropic, in particular, flagged potential existential risks to humanity in its IPO prospectus. Trump has dismissed these warnings as overblown, emphasizing the industry's commitment to generosity towards communities hosting data centers and its role in fostering a US economy increasingly dependent on AI-driven growth.

However, Congress is unlikely to pass AI legislation before the November elections due to the House's recess and senators' impending campaign season.