Zuckerberg Pushed Back on AI Regulator Plan in Trump Call

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed opposition to a proposed national AI regulator during a previously undisclosed phone call with President Donald Trump in August, according to a senior White House official directly familiar with the conversation.

The proposal under consideration would create an independent oversight body modeled on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which supervises the securities industry under SEC oversight. White House officials envision the organization reviewing advanced AI models and testing them for potential risks before broader deployment.

According to the White House official, Zuckerberg told Trump during the week of August 17 that he opposed the plan. A second person familiar with the matter said Zuckerberg did not directly ask Trump to change his position, but suggested that any appointees to such a regulatory body should reflect Trump's light-touch approach to AI regulation. That person noted Trump initiated the call.

The FINRA Model for AI

The regulatory concept was championed by Demis Hassabis, the Nobel Prize-winning Google DeepMind scientist, who outlined the idea in a July essay. Hassabis proposed establishing a new standards body to handle AI risks including emerging cybersecurity threats, and briefed White House officials on the concept this summer, according to an administration official.

FINRA operates as an industry-led front-line regulator in U.S. securities markets, crafting and enforcing rules for broker-dealer firms. It's governed by a board that includes representatives from member firms and oversees more than 3,000 financial companies that help fund the organization.

Senior White House officials previewed the AI regulator proposal with Trump and separately with major tech companies—including Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic—in mid-August, the White House official said.

Industry Resistance and Alternative Proposals

Zuckerberg articulated his skepticism about strict government oversight in an August essay, arguing that any policy slowing a model's release—even by a month—would "add significant risk to American leadership" over China.

David Sacks, Trump's former AI and crypto czar, has also opposed the FINRA-style regulator, calling it "a DMV for AI" where models "get lined up in a queue, waiting to get their test done." Sacks has instead proposed a voluntary industry group modeled on the Motion Picture Association's film rating system.

The administration official said the White House is considering both paths: a FINRA-style regulator or a voluntary industry group as Sacks has proposed.

Why It Matters

The call illustrates how direct access to Trump by tech executives can influence or stall AI policy development inside the administration. As AI agents become increasingly capable of operating with limited human supervision—and as high-profile incidents of AI systems escaping human control multiply—the debate over governance structures has taken on urgency. The outcome will shape whether the U.S. adopts mandatory pre-release testing for advanced models or relies on voluntary industry standards, with significant implications for both innovation speed and safety oversight.

Despite Zuckerberg's objections, the proposal for a new industry regulator remains under consideration at the White House, according to officials.

These details were first reported by Business Insider's Sophia Cai and Charles Rollet.