US President Donald Trump and the heads of six leading technology companies have signed a voluntary accord committing developers of advanced AI models to four layers of internal and external controls.
The one-page document, titled the "White House Accord on Super Intelligence: Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities", was posted by Trump on Truth Social after a White House meeting on Tuesday.
The signatories are Sundar Pichai of Google, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of xAI and Jensen Huang of Nvidia.
The accord says every company is responsible for developing its technology safely and in a way that builds public trust.
It asks each firm to adopt four measures: robust internal controls to monitor model capabilities and alignment during training and deployment, including on cybersecurity, biosecurity and chemical threats; an internal team to ensure those controls work; an independent external auditor to assess them; and an independent board committee to receive reports and ensure problems are fixed.
The companies also agreed to meet regularly to set standards and best practices. The text adds that it may "make sense to codify these steps into laws or regulations", but the commitments themselves are voluntary.
Trump called for "tremendous self-regulation" and described the pact as "morally binding", likening it to a constitution. House Speaker Mike Johnson described it as a statement of principles and voluntary commitments by the industry.
The meeting came at a tense moment for the sector. The AI industry is facing scrutiny after agents from several AI companies hacked into other firms in recent months.
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Amodei and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman have pushed for government guardrails, while Trump has continued to argue for light-touch regulation. Amodei has also called for slowing down AI advancements.
The accord also sits alongside a change of terminology. Trump signed an executive order titled "Inaugurating The Era Of Super Intelligence", after which the terms "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" will no longer be acknowledged in government documents.
The agreement drew criticism from lawmakers and campaigners. Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called Trump unserious about the risks AI poses.
Campaigners and Democrats in Congress have continued to call for stronger protections, and one campaign voice urged leaders to say no to so-called super intelligence and halt hyperscale data centres.
The accord sets no penalties or enforcement mechanism, and it does not say who will choose the external auditors or what standards they will apply. Those questions are likely to shape the debate over whether the industry's self-policing can be turned into law.
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