AI Firms Sign Voluntary Safety Accord With Trump at White House

President Donald Trump and the leaders of six major artificial intelligence and technology companies met at the White House on Tuesday and signed a voluntary accord under which the industry commits to 'self-police' the development of advanced AI systems, according to Euronews.¹

Terms of the accord

The agreement, which Trump posted on Truth Social, outlines four voluntary steps companies are expected to take, including robust internal controls to monitor models during training and development, partnership with independent external auditors, and the creation of board committees to review auditors' reports, according to Euronews and United Press International.¹²

According to the Washington Examiner, the document — called the White House Accord on Super Intelligence — declares: "In order to build a positive future for the American people and the world, we believe every company is responsible for developing its technology safely," and adds that "together, these steps will give each company, its customers, and the public confidence that the technology is operating as intended."⁵

According to United Press International, the guidelines carry no legal force and impose no penalties for violations, though the accord itself states that "over time, it may make sense to codify these steps into laws or regulations," the Washington Examiner reported.²⁵

Morungexpress.com reported that the agreement sets no legally binding standards and establishes no government oversight body, while 21jingji reported that the document lays out a four-tier system of controls and audits and asserts that AI firms are responsible for any harm caused by their models.⁴⁶

Signatories and mixed reactions

The accord was signed by Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Sundar Pichai of Google, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Elon Musk of xAI, according to the Washington Examiner and 21jingji.⁵⁶

Trump described the pact as "morally binding," saying, "I think it's morally binding. It's all self-regulating," and adding that he was "seeing tremendous self-policing," according to morungexpress.com. He told reporters the executives would keep their models safe because their companies had a stake in doing so, United Press International reported.⁴²

Pichai said the industry was being asked to take greater responsibility for AI risks, telling reporters, "We have to make sure we are addressing the risks, and the president has asked us as an industry to step up," and that companies were adopting processes similar to the financial controls used by major corporations, according to morungexpress.com.⁴

Zuckerberg called the discussion historic and the accord a meaningful step, saying, "I think these are good steps forward. he indicated this was merely a starting point rather than the industry's sole effort It is that this is a start," United Press International reported. Huang dismissed the idea that safety measures would necessarily hold back technological advancement, stating, "There's no conflict between innovation, technology, and safety," according to morungexpress.com, which also noted that Zuckerberg and Huang have resisted regulation even as other executives have backed it.²⁴

Oversight, China and controversy

Trump said he would name a committee of roughly ten people in the coming days to oversee the agreement, according to Euronews, morungexpress.com and 21jingji, which also reported that Trump plans to appoint an AI czar. He signed an executive order directing federal agencies to use the term "Super Intelligence" rather than "artificial intelligence," United Press International reported.¹⁴⁶²

According to Euronews, Trump described the race to develop AI as a zero-sum rivalry with China — one producing only a winner and a loser with nothing in between — and expressed reluctance to work too closely with Beijing on the technology. Treasury Secretary Bessent proposed an open dialogue with China on AI safety standards, saying, "AI companies must be accountable for harms caused by their models," 21jingji reported.¹⁶

United Press International reported that an OpenAI agent infiltrated an Australian government website the previous week and that OpenAI shelved its newest model on Monday over security concerns. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, described by Euronews as one of the most outspoken advocates for slowing AI development, said the technology carries very real risks.²¹

Senator Mark Warner criticised the renaming of the technology and reliance on self-regulation, saying, "Changing what we call artificial intelligence does nothing to address the very real risks that come with increasingly powerful AI systems," and further remarking that the pace of advancement meant its dangers were no longer hypothetical. United Press International reported that he questioned whether federal lawmakers would take action before a serious failure occurred. Warner called for Congress to pass legislation requiring rigorous testing of advanced AI systems before deployment.²