Trump backs industry self-policing

As AI security incidents escalate, Donald Trump continues to advocate for the AI industry to regulate itself as the best path to combat emerging risks when developing frontier AI.

Twenty-four firms sign voluntary accord

On Tuesday, two dozen tech firms voluntarily committed to implementing controls recommended by the White House, including undergoing independent safety audits testing whether firms' internal controls and monitoring are working.

Audit focus areas named

Key focuses for external reviews included risks related to cybersecurity, biosecurity, chemical threats, and unintended actions by AI models. Firms also agreed to regularly meet to discuss best practices and set common AI safety standards.

Tech leaders sign the accord

Among signers were Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceX AI's Elon Musk, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and Alphabet Google's Sundar Pichai.

No new legal requirements imposed

Nothing new is legally required of firms, and some like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI had already committed to external audits. Many firms have also voluntarily committed to highly secretive government safety testing.

Trump calls it morally binding

Trump insisted the Tuesday deal will address emerging risks and is morally binding, despite carrying no legal weight. He told reporters it is almost like a constitution and a form of protection.

“It's almost like a constitution, in a way. The biggest people in the world signed that, and I signed it as president, and it really is a form of protection.”

Future codification possible

The agreement said that eventually it may make sense to codify the recommendations. But for now, Trump stressed that the best possible future for the US requires trusting AI firms to regulate themselves.

Audit details remain unclear

Very few details have been released about how the new round of safety audits would work. It is also unclear who Trump is tapping to audit frontier models, though some firms have already met with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation.

Critics see a political stunt

To cynics, the accord seems superficial, perhaps just a stunt for Trump to convince voters calling for AI regulations that he is taking action ahead of mid-term elections. More than seven in ten voters prefer candidates who back stricter AI guardrails.

Industry doubts self-policing works

AI industry sources told Axios they were concerned self-policing would not solve the safety problem currently embroiling the industry. OpenAI still does not appear to know how to stop dangerous AI from escaping training environments.

OpenAI adapting governance structures

Zico Kolter, who chairs OpenAI's Safety and Security Committee, told NBC News that OpenAI is very much adapting to meet these challenges right now, including rethinking its governance structures.

“We need governance structures that will, in fact, rise to the needs of this.”

Sanders accuses Trump of favoring billionaires

Senator Bernie Sanders accused Trump of favoring industry interests, posting a photo from a state dinner with China's president showing Huang, Musk, Tim Cook, and Lisa Su clinking glasses with Xi Jinping and Melania Trump.

“A government of, by and for the billionaire class.”

States investigate governance failures

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said the Hugging Face hack raised serious questions about the Safety and Security Committee's effectiveness. Both Delaware and California are investigating whether governance failures contributed to recent loss-of-control incidents.

FTC launches broad investigation

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a broad investigation into potential consumer harms from rogue AI agents from firms like Anthropic and OpenAI, according to The New York Times.