President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) were scheduled to meet with executives from several artificial intelligence companies at the White House on Tuesday, September 29, 2026. The meeting in the East Room was set to focus on the development of AI technology and the potential for government safety regulations. Expected attendees included Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to company spokespeople and sources familiar with the plans.
The White House gathering followed a private dinner between President Trump and Amodei on Sunday, September 27. The discussions occur as lawmakers face growing pressure to address the rapid advancement of AI. While some industry leaders and officials have raised concerns regarding existential risks, others in the sector have argued that regulation could impede U.S. competitiveness against China.
Speaker Johnson stated on Monday, September 28, that the government should avoid "red tape" that might harm national security, advocating instead for a balance between innovation and regulation. During the same period, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) met with Amodei at the U.S. Capitol but did not attend the White House meeting. In a separate legal development, the Florida Attorney General sought a temporary block on OpenAI developing new products until they are deemed safe for public use, a move OpenAI responded to by affirming its commitment to working with states on safety standards.
The scale of the technology's potential impact is described by some industry figures as affecting the safety of the global population, with one warning cited in the report suggesting AI could drive events that cause a billion deaths. A White House official noted that the administration is currently working to unveil a new online portal for federal government services.
The precedent set by these discussions will determine whether the U.S. prioritizes rapid development to maintain a lead over international competitors like China or adopts precautionary limits requested by executives at Anthropic and OpenAI. While President Trump has previously characterized some safety fears as a "hoax," he is also proposing the creation of a federal "AI force." Further meetings between tech leaders and members of Congress were scheduled for later in the week of September 28. No specific dates for new federal AI legislation or the effective date of a federal "AI force" have been reported.