Musk, Zuckerberg lobby Trump against AI regulation framework

Tech leaders push back on AI oversight proposal

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang have each held private meetings with President Donald Trump to voice opposition to proposed artificial intelligence regulation, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The lobbying effort followed a July 14 proposal from Demis Hassabis, head of Google DeepMind, advocating for a new regulatory body to establish AI safety standards. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei supported the framework, but the three tech executives pushed back in separate Oval Office meetings.

Why it matters

The behind-the-scenes influence campaign reveals how AI industry leaders are actively shaping federal policy at the highest level. With no consensus among major players on oversight, the regulatory vacuum continues while frontier AI systems advance rapidly. The outcome will determine whether the U.S. pursues proactive safety standards or relies on existing laws and market forces.

Trump rejects regulation as "hoax"

Following the meetings, Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this week dismissing AI safety concerns as a "hoax" perpetrated by "traitors." He argued that regulatory slowdowns would benefit China in the global AI competition.

"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades," Trump wrote. He added that the government already possesses "tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power" over tech companies.

Industry split on oversight approach

Musk, who runs xAI, proposed an alternative to formal regulation: having leading AI companies test each other's frontier models before public release. Speaking at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles on Monday, he described the approach as "instead of grading your own homework, you would at least have competitors grading your homework and raising the alarm if they see concerns."

Nvidia's Huang took a harder line against new rules. At Salesforce's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, he stated: "We don't need any new laws. We don't need new regulations. If you build a product or a service and you're not confident in its functionality, capability or safety, then don't release it."

This stance contrasts sharply with warnings from Anthropic's Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who have both cautioned that inadequate oversight could lead to catastrophic outcomes from advanced AI systems.

The details of the meetings and Trump's subsequent statements were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.