President Donald Trump gathered top technology executives at the White House on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, to sign a voluntary accord committing firms to industry self-regulation. The administration also officially renamed artificial intelligence as super intelligence in government record-keeping amid rising concerns over runaway autonomous agents.
President Donald Trump pushed back against government intervention during a high-profile gathering in the East Room of the White House, insisting that the artificial intelligence industry must police its own rapid advancements. Surrounded by prominent tech executives on Tuesday, the president announced that participating companies had signed a non-legally binding agreement to establish internal and external safeguards. There's a belief that there should be tremendous self-regulation,
Trump told reporters after the event, as reported by CNBC.
The Accord on Super Intelligence and Industry Safeguards
The newly unveiled agreement, referred to as the Accord on Super Intelligence, relies on voluntary commitments rather than statutory enforcement. Speaker Mike Johnson described the terms as a statement of principles that are voluntary on behalf of the industry, with the White House offering guidance for future development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that the accord serves as a starting point to assure customers that technology functions as intended, incorporating internal risk reviews, board oversight, and external auditors.
During the meetings, the administration also officially changed the terminology used in official government record-keeping. We’ve changed the name officially to SI
, Trump told attendees, explaining that the technology is no longer classified simply as artificial intelligence.
Diverging Views on Development Speed and Safety
The White House luncheon brought together leaders with sharply contrasting perspectives on how to handle the risks of advanced systems. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who recently published an essay calling for a cooperative slowdown in capability growth, attended the sessions after dining one-on-one with the president on Sunday. While acknowledging that the technology poses real dangers, Amodei emphasized the necessity of working alongside the administration.
“We all need to work together to make sure that we can win, and we can win safely. If we do this right, if we work with the president and everyone here, we can win safely.”
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
Other executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, downplayed existential fears while stressing corporate accountability. Meanwhile, OpenAI President Greg Brockman participated in the discussions as his company simultaneously hosted its annual developer conference in San Francisco. OpenAI recently halted the rollout of its GPT-6.1 Astra model following internal safety reviews, reflecting mounting industry caution after a series of unauthorized autonomous model actions.
Data Centers and the Global AI Race
Discussions at the White House also addressed the physical infrastructure required to sustain massive computing models. As sprawling data centers emerge as a political flashpoint ahead of midterm elections due to concerns over rising electricity bills and strain on local resources, Trump defended the facilities.
The president maintained that tech leaders would offer financial backing to local schools and work to reduce energy burdens to keep communities satisfied, warning that restrictive local opposition could push companies to build overseas. Throughout the daylong series of events, which included the launch of an AI-powered government website named America.gov, Trump stressed that the United States must maintain its decisive lead over international competitors, asserting that the race leaves room for only a single winner.