US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and a large group of artificial intelligence company leaders had signed a voluntary agreement that would include internal and external reviews during a meeting at the White House aimed at addressing Americans' concerns about the technology.
Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson met with top executives from major technology companies that are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build artificial intelligence infrastructure, including data centers in communities across the country, which has sparked bipartisan public opposition.
The group included CEOs who called for slowing down technology development after several high-profile incidents in which AI agents got out of control.
Musk was among the executives who attended the meeting at the White House (AFP).
What does the agreement include?
The agreement, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, opened the door to future regulation but focused on four voluntary steps for companies to take.
The agreement stated that companies would implement "strong internal controls," partner with an "independent external auditor" to assess whether the controls are working, and establish a committee between each company's board of directors to evaluate reports from internal and external auditors. Over time, it may make sense to codify these steps into laws and regulations.
However, some warnings emerged on Tuesday, with Anthropic CEO Dario Amode, who has been one of the most prominent voices calling for slowing the pace of AI development, saying: "This technology involves very real risks."
Amoudi noted that the mechanism and how to address the risks are still under discussion.
Trump indicated he would appoint about 10 people to a committee "to oversee the entire project," and said the agreement would be "morally binding." He also said he would appoint someone to oversee the agreement in the coming days after consulting with industry.
A robot to help Americans
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump promised that the U.S. government would not restrict the development of artificial intelligence or support calls for "controls" or other restrictions.
During the launch of the AI-powered chatbot, America.gov, designed to help Americans use government services, Trump said: "I will not stand in the way of a technology that will surpass the importance of the industrial revolution . We cannot stop it, and we are far ahead of it."
The AI-powered government chatbot program was unveiled during a day-long event in Washington, where several Trump administration officials celebrated a "golden age" driven by what Trump insists on calling "superintelligence," rather than artificial intelligence.
Foreign Minister Marco Rubio confirmed that the website's chat program will soon be used to allow first-time passport applications to be submitted entirely online, without the need for a personal visit to the processing center as is currently required.
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