Trump and Top AI CEOs Sign Voluntary Safety Accord, Rejecting New Government Regulation

President Trump hosted nearly 20 technology executives at a White House lunch on September 29, signing a voluntary AI safety accord he described as "almost like a constitution." Signatories included Elon Musk of SpaceX, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Greg Brockman and Google's Sundar Pichai. Trump called the agreement "morally binding" and said it reflected a consensus for "tremendous self-regulation" rather than new government rules.

House Speaker Mike Johnson described the document as a "statement of principles" and "statement of standards" with commitments to robust internal controls and external audits. Zuckerberg outlined steps the participating companies expect to take, including internal risk reviews and independent audits to examine the technology. The accord, which Trump posted to Truth Social, was described as leaving the door open to future regulation.

Critics and analysts noted the agreement's limits. CNBC reported that the meeting left AI safety "more unsettled than ever," and Reuters cited sources saying Trump's safety posture may have more to do with midterm politics than substantive guardrails. Trump also said he plans to name an AI czar within three to four days and signed a separate executive order directing the federal government to use the term "Super Intelligence" instead of "artificial intelligence."

Separately, Trump announced that South Korea will make a $200 billion investment in the United States, including funding for eight nuclear power plants, an announcement made the same day as the AI summit.