Trump and AI CEOs Sign Voluntary Self-Policing Accord at White House

President Donald Trump and the CEOs of six leading artificial-intelligence companies signed a voluntary self-policing accord on Tuesday, committing to internal controls, independent external audits, and board-level oversight committees during a White House meeting aimed at addressing public concern about the technology.

The agreement was signed by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Elon Musk, founder of xAI, which now operates under SpaceX. Trump posted the accord on Truth Social late Tuesday after meeting the executives with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

What does the accord actually require?

The document outlines four voluntary steps. Companies must implement "robust internal controls," partner with an "independent external auditor" to assess those controls, and create a board committee to evaluate reports from internal and external auditors. The accord adds: "Over time, it may make sense to codify these steps into laws and regulations."

Trump told reporters outside the West Wing that he was "seeing tremendous self-policing." He said about 10 people would be named to a committee to "watch over the whole enterprise" and called the accord "morally binding." Trump plans to appoint an overseer in coming days after consulting industry.

Why are some experts skeptical?

Critics questioned the accord's vague language and the absence of legal liability. Alex Pascal, executive director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, said: "The only way to reduce the risks and harms of AI to Americans is through robust legal liability, regulation and fundamentally changing the race dynamics that are driving unsafe decision-making by frontier AI developers whose costs are borne by the American people."

Robin Jia, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Southern California, pointed to recent hacking disclosures and warned: "As the models get better, the consequences of such things are only going to get greater."

Amodei, one of the most vocal executives calling for slower AI development, struck a cautious note: "The technology has very real risks." He added: "And, you know, the mechanism, how we address those risks is still under discussion."

Shri Narayanan, a university professor of electrical and computer engineering at USC, said the accord balances innovation latitude with regulation and covers efforts to improve model safety and security, not just capability.

How did executives push back on regulation?

Earlier Tuesday, Trump unveiled an AI chatbot at America.gov intended to help citizens navigate government services. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the chatbot could soon allow Americans to apply for a first-time passport fully online, without an in-person processing center visit. The launch was part of a daylong Washington event where administration officials promoted what Trump calls "super intelligence."

At the unveiling, Trump drew a hard line against restrictions. "I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution," he said. "We can't stifle it, and we're leading by a lot."

Nvidia's Huang sat to Trump's right at a White House luncheon; Musk sat to his left, according to a Truth Social seating chart.

What about data centers and China?

Trump said executives agreed to address bipartisan grassroots opposition to data centers by offering more financial support to local schools and taking steps to lower energy costs. "You're going to see, data centers are going to be very popular," Trump said. He warned that if opposition persists, companies "will be forced to go overseas or other locations."

The president framed the AI race as a two-country contest with China, with no second place. He noted the two nations agreed last week during Xi Jinping's Washington visit to set up a channel for AI-related incidents. Cooperation, however, does not interest him. "I didn't want to do anything, because we're leading," he said. "Why would I want to do anything?"

Is OpenAI slowing its rollout?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a CNBC interview that the company halted a new model's rollout the day before over safety concerns. "We are pacing our progress, which includes sometimes not training a model," Altman said. "We have to do these in a way where we can make very confident safety cases and claims, so that people don't have a bunch of anxiety."

Trump has repeatedly praised tech executives for driving what he calls "unbelievable growth." He has credited the hundreds of billions spent on data centers and computer equipment with boosting the stock market and swelling investment accounts for higher-income Americans. The next test of the accord arrives when Trump names his committee and overseer; until then, the industry's promises rest on voluntary compliance and a president who insists voluntary restraint is already enough.