How does Trump’s White House AI accord work?

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and six prominent tech executives signed a voluntary agreement at the White House, pledging to ensure the safety of their artificial intelligence systems. Trump referred to the accord as "morally binding" and likened it to a "constitution." The document, titled "White House Accord on Super Intelligence: Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities," was shared on Trump's Truth Social network after a meeting with industry leaders.

The six signatories include Sundar Pichai from Google, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Mark Zuckerberg from Meta, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, and Elon Musk. According to the agreement, companies are accountable for their technology's safety, will put safeguards in place to ensure models function as intended, will promptly identify and rectify issues, and will collaborate with independent auditors to verify that their systems do not access other technical systems without authorization.

The accord does not specify any consequences for violations. Trump also unveiled a board to oversee the matter, though he did not reveal its members, and appointed a government official to lead efforts in this area. Zuckerberg described the accord as "a start," while Pichai called it "historic and consequential," and Amodei noted it as a way to ensure safety.

However, experts expressed skepticism, with some arguing that the accord allows companies to define their own safety criteria and potentially leads to minimal safeguards. The accord comes amid calls for stricter regulation of the technology. OpenAI recently halted the release of one of its models due to safety concerns. Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to replace "artificial intelligence" with "Super Intelligence" or "SI" in official communications, websites, and reports.

The president also directed his science and technology adviser to propose a legal definition within 60 days. In a recent UN General Assembly address, Trump criticized the use of the term "artificial" to describe AI, stating that it sounded "fake." The accord reflects Washington's stance against calls for global principles in this matter, as British Prime Minister Andrew Burnham advocated for a single set of global standards, while Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei opposed preemptive regulation.