Trump Enables Tech Billionaires with Toothless AI Pact, Rebrands AI as 'Superintelligence'
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President Donald Trump has once again sided with powerful tech CEOs, announcing a voluntary AI safety agreement that lacks real accountability, and unilaterally rebranding artificial intelligence as 'superintelligence' in a move critics see as performative.
President Donald Trump revealed that the heads of the United States' largest technology and artificial-intelligence corporations—already notorious for unchecked power—have signed a voluntary 'Joint Commitment On Frontier Responsibilities' to supposedly establish internal safety controls for AI systems. This agreement, crafted behind closed doors after a White House luncheon with billionaire CEOs Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, and Dario Amodei, is emblematic of the administration’s preference for corporate self-regulation over meaningful public oversight.
Trump lauded the pact as a 'morally binding' framework, claiming it would let companies police themselves—a move that echoes the failed history of self-regulation in industries from finance to tech. He compared the deal to a 'constitution' for AI safety, and, unsurprisingly, highlighted his own signature as president, further personalizing what should be a matter of public interest.
In a separate, unilateral action, Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to replace the terms 'artificial intelligence' and 'AI' with the grandiose 'superintelligence' and 'SI' in all official communications—a rebranding that does nothing to address the real risks posed by unregulated AI development.
The so-called commitment outlines four layers of oversight: internal safety monitoring during model training, an internal team to verify that monitoring, external auditors to assess controls, and an independent board to review audit reports. Notably, the document sidesteps any requirement for government regulators, public disclosure of audit results, or independent selection of evaluators, leaving the foxes firmly in charge of the henhouse.
Critics, including progressive lawmakers and AI researchers, have demanded robust governmental oversight, arguing that voluntary measures are toothless and lack enforceable standards. Predictably, the tech industry has resisted real regulation, hiding behind claims of competitiveness and economic impact while prioritizing profit over public safety.
'This is a start and an accord that the whole industry could come to,' Mark Zuckerberg said at a press briefing, painting the agreement as a historic conversation. Yet, without binding rules or transparency, public trust in technology remains as fragile as ever.