US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Google CEO Sundar Pichai a "monster" while hosting leading artificial intelligence executives at the White House. The remark came during a meeting with technology leaders, including Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, to discuss a new voluntary agreement on AI safety and oversight.
Introducing Pichai to reporters outside the West Wing, Trump said: "This guy is a monster, and nobody knows," using the term as praise for Pichai's influence and success in the technology industry.
The executives were meeting to discuss a voluntary framework aimed at strengthening oversight of advanced AI systems through internal and external reviews.
Watch the video here:
🚨😂 COMEDIC GOLD OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE!
— Wiki Leaks 2 (@WikiLeaksQ2) September 29, 2026
🇺🇸 TRUMP: “Sundar [Pichai], you wanna say something?”
🇮🇳 PICHAI: “First of all, thanks—”
😂 TRUMP: “This guy is a MONSTER, and nobody knows him. What a great life! To be a MONSTER and not have to go through this. All you have to know… pic.twitter.com/pIAP5vg4oN
Explaining the agreement, Pichai said companies were adopting established corporate governance practices for AI development.
"We are signing up to a set of processes and controls as we do in other areas, like financial controls, in a company. And we are bringing those well-known best practices to the development of superintelligence," Pichai told reporters.
Zuckerberg said the accord included "a set of principles and commitments around building robust internal controls and detecting if there are any issues with the technology."
He added that the agreement would involve multiple layers of oversight, including internal risk reviews, external auditing and independent reviews by company boards.
Trump has spent months defending the expansion of AI infrastructure, including the construction of data centres across the United States, despite growing criticism from both supporters and opponents.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump argued that data centres can benefit local communities.
"By the way, I'm very good at real estate. Some of those buildings are absolutely beautiful," Trump said. "They're big, and they're, you know, big, strong, powerful buildings. But they're beautiful, and they add greatly to a community."
Amodei, whose company Anthropic has frequently highlighted the potential risks posed by advanced AI systems, said the industry could improve safety standards but acknowledged that challenges remain.
"But I think the technology has very real risks. And, you know, the mechanism, how we address those risks is still under discussion," Amodei said.
Amodei, who had dinner with Trump on Sunday, also attended Tuesday's White House meeting.
Trump later said AI companies had agreed to strengthen oversight of the technology through voluntary commitments.
"I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police," Trump told reporters outside the West Wing.
Sharing details of the meeting with the US President, Sundar Pichai wrote on social media: "We had an important conversation and signed the White House Accord on Super Intelligence today."
As I shared today, Google has invested hundreds of billions in the last two years alone, with more to come, across the entire stack, to deliver benefits for America and the world. We're working to build products that deliver real value for people and businesses, invest in local communities, and build trust in the technology.
Great to meet today with @POTUS, @JDVance, @SpeakerJohnson and Administration + tech leaders. Important conversation and we signed today the White House Accord on Super Intelligence.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) September 30, 2026
As I shared today, Google has invested hundreds of billions in the last two years alone, with… pic.twitter.com/04EirBfyUX
Industry also has to innovate responsibly. Google's focused on building the right way, with appropriate testing, evaluations, red-teaming, and other safeguards against misuse and misalignment – and releasing models or products only after they've been thoroughly reviewed.
We are committed to working with other industry leaders to establish norms and build public confidence. The White House Accord and the Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities signed today are a solid basis for moving forward - it contains real, tangible steps to promote safe development while delivering the economic and scientific benefits of this technology.
(With inputs from agencies)
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
