+34
President Donald Trump met with nearly two dozen tech executives at the White House, signed a morally binding self-regulation agreement, and rejected new AI regulations, saying existing laws and industry self-policing are enough.
President Donald Trump rejected the idea of new regulations on artificial intelligence after meeting at the White House with top industry executives and signing with them an agreement for industry self-regulation amid growing global concerns over threats posed by the technology.
Speaking on Tuesday after a luncheon with nearly two dozen Silicon Valley leaders, including Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, Trump said existing laws would be enough to safeguard Americans from AI potential risks. I think I am seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police, Trump told reporters outside the West Wing.
Tech Executives Sign Voluntary AI Agreement
The president was flanked by many of America top tech company executives, including Meta Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia Jensen Huang and SpaceX Elon Musk. Trump said the tech executives signed an agreement that is morally binding, without providing details, and floated the idea of a committee of roughly 10 people that would help watch over the whole enterprise.
There is a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation, and we automatically have regulation with the Department of Justice, the FBI, all of that, but the self-regulation is very important, the president told reporters in a brief appearance with his guests. The agreement sets what House Speaker Mike Johnson described as a voluntary set of commitments by the industry to implement robust internal controls and layers of internal and external review.
Johnson, who attended the meeting, said the text would be released later. The luncheon at the White House was joined by other technology industry attendees including Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp and OpenAI President Greg Brockman. The decision to even engage on AI safety had appeared to mark a shift for Trump, who only last week rejected fears of catastrophic risk as a hoax.
Other industry attendees were expected to include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, SpaceXAI Elon Musk and Advanced Micro Devices Lisa Su, according to a list released by the White House. Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House Science and Technology Policy Advisor Michael Kratsios also planned to join.
Pressure Mounts for New AI Safety Standards
Pressure to take action has increased following high-profile security breaches by rogue AI models that fuelled calls by Silicon Valley AI developers and world leaders for new standards on the technology. Anthropic has warned investors its AI could pose existential risks to humanity. Yet Trump remarks splashed cold water on the notion that his administration might move away from its hardened opposition to new government AI safeguards and become more open to new rules.
During remarks on Tuesday, Trump signalled his continued distaste for regulations. We have a very big lead, and we are going to keep our lead, and it is a very positive thing, the president said, referring to his desire to maintain the US edge in the global AI competition.
I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, Trump said earlier in the day at the unveiling of an AI chatbot, America.gov, intended to help Americans navigate government services. We cannot stifle it, and we are leading by a lot.
The debate has posed a political conundrum for Trump, who has cast himself as one of the nation loudest champions of AI, arguing that its unfettered development is key to beating China and sustaining the US economy. But polls show Americans have rapidly become more wary of the technology risks, including job loss, higher electricity costs and major cyberattacks, threatening to put Trump on the wrong side of the issue ahead of the November midterm elections.
Trump Renames Technology Amid Controversy
Trump has recently become preoccupied with AI name, suggesting he sees the controversy surrounding the technology as a branding problem more than an issue with its potential dangers. The president said on Tuesday he would sign an executive order later in the day renaming it super intelligence. Shortly before the meeting began, Trump posted on his Truth Social network a guest seating chart that put Huang and Musk at either side of the president.
His desire to maintain close ties with the industry was also on full display. When reporters entered the room, the executives were lined up behind the president as if they were posing for a group photo and Trump gushed about their contributions to the US. The one thing that we all have in common is we love our country and we love the world, and we want to make sure it is a safe place, he said.
The president did appear to acknowledge growing public discontent with the AI rollout. He indicated that the companies in attendance would work more closely with local communities to ease concerns over the impact of new data centre construction. They are going to do things for the community that will be really financially beneficial and otherwise beneficial, Trump said, without providing specifics.
Amodei and Trump Meet on AI Safety
The lunch took place after Trump met with Amodei on Sunday, bringing together two men at opposite ends of the AI safety debate. The late-night dinner marked their first private sit-down after months of rocky relations between the Anthropic chief and the administration over safety-related issues involving the company AI tools.
Amodei has long warned about AI existential risks, and he propelled the safety debate into the mainstream with a September 12 essay, promising to slow development of the most advanced models and urging more regulation. His pledge to pace development was embraced by his rivals, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk. Highlighting those concerns, OpenAI said on Monday it would hold back a version of its Astra model while it establishes stronger safeguards.
Saachi Jain, OpenAI head of safety systems, said the in-development GPT-6.1 Astra model was not as good as the company wanted when it came to staying within scope and authorisation, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it has done.
theage 
smh:Trump rejects AI laws after tech titans agree to ‘self-police’ AI development 
brisbanetimes:Trump rejects AI laws after tech titans agree to ‘self-police’ AI developmentThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
White House Tech Meeting AI Self-Regulation Dario Amodei Openai Astra Model Trump AI Regulation Super Intelligence
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Heritage Victoria rejects protection for John Medley Building, demolition plan advancesHeritage Victoria has recommended against protecting the University of Melbourne's John Medley Building, designed by National Gallery of Victoria architect Sir Roy Grounds. The Heritage Council of Victoria will make the final decision, with a hearing likely to delay an outcome until next year.
Read more »
Scaramucci book All the Wrong Moves warns Trump could subvert 2028 electionAnthony Scaramucci, fired as Trump's communications director after 11 days in 2017, has written All the Wrong Moves, a book warning that Trump could nullify the 2028 election and blaming America's crisis on three catastrophic decisions.
Read more »
Trump Rejects AI Cooperation with China to Protect US Industry LeadPresident Trump announced he will not collaborate with China on AI governance to prevent knowledge transfer, while hosting major tech executives at the White House to discuss self-regulation and renaming AI to super intelligence.
Read more »