AI executives gather at White House state dinner as Meta chief downplays need for industry coordination on safety

Several leading artificial-intelligence and technology executives were present at the White House state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump for Chinese President Xi Jinping. The gathering, which took place on Wednesday, brought together CEOs and senior officials from companies that are developing advanced AI systems.

In a separate interview, Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg argued that the industry does not require a coordinated safety framework. Speaking with former Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern, he said, "> I think that there's a lot of rhetoric that is filled with doom, and my view on this is that there are a number of labs that are working on building advanced AI, and I don't think that we need some kind of industry-wide coordination to not necessarily mess this up."

Zuckerberg added that each laboratory should address safety concerns internally, stating, "> I think that just each lab needs to take the time, and when it sees that there are issues, you just take the time that you need internally to make sure that you're proceeding safely."

The remarks come amid ongoing policy discussions in New York City, where council leaders are preparing regulations that would require AI labs to install a human-controlled “kill switch” and impose fines for non-compliance. The proposed rules are slated for a committee hearing on Oct. 5.

Other AI-related developments were noted, including Elon Musk’s comments on a Google satellite-based computing project and the Vatican’s appointment of a cardinal to chair an AI commission, but the primary focus of the dinner and Zuckerberg’s interview was the debate over industry coordination on AI safety.