Trump Calls for ‘Tremendous Self-Regulation’ of AI During White House Lunch With Tech Titans
President Trump called for the artificial intelligence industry to embrace “tremendous self-regulation” Tuesday as he hosted some of the world’s most powerful technology executives for a high-profile lunch at the White House.
Trump made the remarks from the East Room while seated alongside a group of billionaire executives and leading figures in the rapidly expanding AI industry. The gathering included Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Palantir CEO Alex Karp.
The president said government agencies already provide a degree of oversight for the industry, pointing specifically to the Justice Department and FBI. But Trump emphasized that companies developing increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems also have an important responsibility to police themselves.
The meeting came as Washington continues debating how aggressively the federal government should regulate AI. Trump has repeatedly warned against excessive restrictions that he believes could slow American innovation and allow China to gain an advantage in one of the most consequential technological competitions of the coming decades.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who participated in the gathering, has similarly argued against imposing a moratorium on AI development. Johnson has said policymakers must balance safety concerns with the need to ensure the United States remains the global leader in artificial intelligence.
Some of the executives and companies represented at Tuesday’s meeting have expressed greater concern about the potential dangers of increasingly advanced AI. Anthropic and OpenAI have both raised safety concerns surrounding powerful future models, while Trump has resisted calls for broad restrictions that could significantly slow development.
Trump said there was considerable agreement among the executives gathered at the White House despite differing opinions about how AI should be governed. He indicated that a statement summarizing some of the discussions and areas of agreement would be released following the meeting.
The president also continued promoting his preferred term for artificial intelligence, “super intelligence.” Trump said he planned to sign official documents Tuesday adopting the new terminology in government communications, arguing that the word “artificial” does not adequately describe the technology.
The gathering was part of a broader White House event focused on American leadership in artificial intelligence. Trump has increasingly framed AI development as both an economic opportunity and a national security competition, with the United States racing to maintain its technological advantage over China.
Trump made clear that his administration does not intend to stifle the industry as AI capabilities rapidly advance. Instead, the president is pushing technology companies to take greater responsibility for managing risks themselves while the federal government maintains existing oversight and focuses on keeping the United States at the forefront of the global AI race.