US President Donald Trump called Google CEO Sundar Pichai a "monster" during a White House meeting with tech leaders on Tuesday. Pichai responded with a witty one-liner, saying, "Hopefully a better tagline than I'm a monster!" The group met to discuss safety measures and new controls for artificial intelligence systems.
Trump also joked that tech leaders such as Sundar Pichai have a "great life" because they don't have to face reporters every day.
US President Donald Trump called Google CEO Sundar Pichai a "monster" while introducing him to reporters during a White House meeting with top artificial intelligence executives on Tuesday.
While praising Pichai's success in the tech industry, Trump said, "You have no idea who these people are. These are the biggest people in the world. You have no idea who they are."
Trump also joked that tech leaders such as Sundar Pichai have a "great life" because they do not have to face reporters every day.
"This guy is a monster, and nobody knows him," he added before repeatedly telling people to remember Pichai's first name. "All you have to know is Sundar. Sundar is his name," Trump said.
Pichai smiled and joked, "Hopefully a better tagline than I'm a monster!" The exchange left people around them laughing.
The gathering included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, along with other prominent tech leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, and Palantir CEO Alex Karp.
Trump hosted these leaders for discussions on the future of AI and how companies can strengthen safety measures around advanced artificial intelligence systems.
The executives discussed a voluntary framework under which AI companies would put stronger checks and review systems in place.
Pichai said the companies were applying established corporate governance practices to 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," he said.
Zuckerberg mentioned the agreement would include internal risk reviews, external audits and independent reviews by company boards to identify potential issues with AI systems.
"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.