Trump Signs Voluntary AI Accord With Tech Leaders at White House Trump and top AI executives signed a voluntary accord promising internal and external reviews, while Trump vowed not to stifle AI growth and unveiled a government chatbot. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he and a large group of artificial intelligence company leaders signed a voluntary accord that includes internal and external reviews. The signing followed a White House meeting aimed at addressing Americans' fears about the technology. Trump posted the accord on his Truth Social site late Tuesday. It opens the door to future regulation but focuses on four voluntary steps for companies, including robust internal controls and an independent external auditor. The accord also calls for a committee within each company's board of directors to evaluate reports from internal and external auditors.Trump Signs AI Accord With Tech LeadersIt said that over time it may make sense to codify these steps into laws and regulations. I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing, Trump told reporters during an impromptu press conference outside the West Wing. And they understand that they have to self-police. The accord was signed by Trump, 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, now part of SpaceX.Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson met leading executives from top tech firms spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI infrastructure. That includes data centres in communities across the country that have sparked grassroots, bipartisan opposition. Trump repeatedly praised the executives for developing technology he said would produce unbelievable growth. Investment in data centres and computer equipment has accelerated the economy and boosted the stock market, swelling investment accounts for higher-income Americans and lifting their spending.Yet there were notes of caution Tuesday. Amodei, one of the most outspoken voices calling for a slowdown in AI development, said the technology has very real risks. He said the mechanism for addressing those risks is still under discussion. Trump suggested about 10 people would be named to a committee to watch over the whole enterprise, and he said the accord would be morally binding.He said he would name someone to oversee the agreement in coming days after consulting with industry. Some actions outlined in the accord are measures these companies already take in some form or have previously committed to doing. The intention balances latitude needed for innovation with regulation, said Shri Narayanan, a University of Southern California professor of electrical and computer engineering.Narayanan said innovation is not limited to improving AI model capabilities but also includes efforts to improve model safety and security. Other experts are skeptical of putting so much faith in self-policing, like Robin Jia, an assistant professor of computer science at USC. Jia said it is crucial to ensure the leading labs' intentions are well-aligned with the broader interest of the American public.Experts Skeptical Of Voluntary AI Self PolicingHe pointed to recent disclosures of hacking incidents and said as models get better, the consequences of such things are only going to get greater. Some also took issue with the accord's vague, broad language. Alex Pascal, executive director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, said the only way to reduce AI risks and harms to Americans is through robust legal liability, regulation and changing race dynamics driving unsafe decision-making.Huang sat to Trump's right during a White House luncheon meeting, according to a seating chart the president posted on Truth Social. Musk sat to Trump's left. Earlier Tuesday, Trump promised the U.S. government would not limit AI development or support calls for guardrails or other restrictions. I will never stifle the growth of a technology that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, Trump said.We can't stifle it, and we're leading by a lot, he said at the unveiling of an AI chatbot, America.gov, intended to help Americans navigate government services. The unveiling occurred at a daylong event in Washington where multiple Trump administration officials celebrated a Golden Age fueled by what Trump insists on calling super intelligence, rather than artificial intelligence.Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted that the chatbot at America.gov could soon be used to apply for a first-time passport fully online, without the in-person visit to a processing centre currently required. Trump also addressed data centres cropping up in local communities, saying his administration could provide more financial support to local schools or take steps to reduce energy costs. You're going to see, data centers are going to be very popular, Trump said.If the opposition continued, Trump suggested, they'll be forced to go overseas or other locations. Separately Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a television interview that the company is increasingly focused on safety. The day before, his company halted the rollout of a new model over safety concerns.OpenAI Focuses On AI Model SafetyWe are pacing our progress, which includes sometimes not training a model, he said on CNBC, adding the company must make very confident safety cases so people don't have a bunch of anxiety. For his part, Trump on Tuesday portrayed the race to develop AI as largely a global competition between the United States and China, with the U.S. in the lead. He said there would be a winner and a loser, with no second place.The two countries agreed last week to establish a channel for handling AI-related incidents during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington. But Trump underscored Tuesday that he didn't want to cooperate too much with China. I didn't want to do anything, because we're leading. Why would I want to do anything?Trump said. The White House event combined the voluntary accord, the chatbot launch and the president's broader push for rapid AI development.