Trump gets AI giants to sign up for self-policing

President Donald Trump convened a meeting at the White House on Tuesday with leaders from major artificial intelligence (AI) companies, resulting in a voluntary agreement aimed at internal and external reviews of the technology. Trump claimed to perceive "tremendous self-policing" from the executives present. The group included CEOs from various tech firms that are heavily investing in AI infrastructure, such as data centers across the country, which have faced bipartisan opposition.

The agreement includes a set of principles and commitments around building robust internal controls and detecting potential issues with AI technology. Companies involved in the accord will undergo multiple layers of auditing and controls, with independent reviews from each board of directors. Trump named a committee to oversee the agreement, which he described as morally binding.

Notable executives who met with Trump included Greg Brockman from OpenAI, Jeff Bezos from Amazon, and Elon Musk, whose X social media platform incorporates an AI model called Grok. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was seated to Trump's right during a luncheon meeting at the White House. Trump praised the AI industry for its contribution to economic growth and stock market expansion, while cautioning that safety concerns still need addressing.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who has been vocal about slowing down AI development, expressed concerns about the technology's risks, stating that the mechanism to address these risks is still under discussion. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, emphasized the accord's focus on internal controls and auditing by independent boards of directors.

Trump highlighted the need to assuage opposition to data centers by providing financial support to local schools and reducing energy costs, implying that otherwise, companies might be forced to relocate overseas.