Trump signs voluntary AI accord, launches America.gov amid early glitches

Trump announced a voluntary AI accord with major tech leaders and launched America.gov at the White House. The push for oversight was quickly overshadowed by website glitches, political controversy and wider Washington tensions.Stock photo used for illustrationWashington,Sep 30, 2026 11:06 ISTUS President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he and a group of artificial intelligence company leaders had signed a voluntary accord at the White House that would include internal and external reviews of the technology. He also launched the AI-powered America.gov website, saying it would make it easier for people to access government information and services.The developments came on a day that also saw former special counsel Jack Smith tell lawmakers that he would not be intimidated by threats of prosecution from the Trump administration, while the US announced fresh sanctions targeting what it called Iran's military supply chain.Speaking after a White House meeting and lunch with industry leaders, Trump said the AI agreement would be "morally binding" and said his administration could create a committee of about 10 people to "watch over the whole enterprise". He said officials were already seeing "tremendous self-policing" in the sector and that companies understood "that they have to self-police". Details of the accord were not immediately available. Trump also signed an executive order that largely focused on his insistence that artificial intelligence be referred to as "super intelligence".At the meeting, Trump introduced Google CEO Sundar Pichai by saying, "This guy is a monster, and nobody knows," in a remark he made approvingly. Pichai said, "We are signing up to a set of processes and controls like 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." Meta CEO Mark 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 said this would be backed by layers of auditing and controls, including internal risk reviews, external auditors and evaluators, and independent review by company boards. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the industry could protect safety, but added, "I think the technology has very real risks. And, you know, the mechanism, how we address those risks is still under discussion." Trump also used the occasion to defend data centres being built across the country. Drawing on his background in real estate, he said, "By the way, I'm very good at real estate. Some of those buildings are absolutely beautiful. They're big and they're, you know, big, strong, powerful buildings. But they're beautiful and they add greatly to a community."The new America.gov website briefly drew attention for the answers given by its question-and-answer feature. It initially said Trump's name appears in the Epstein files, that Democrat Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, and that climate change is largely caused by human activity. Within minutes, however, the site changed course and began refusing to answer those questions, saying it did not respond to political inquiries. Elsewhere in Washington, Smith told senators that he "will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution" from the Trump administration and said he believed the rule of law was under threat as never before. His appearance before the Senate was expected to focus on his team's access to Republican lawmakers' phone records during the investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election result.The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against 10 individuals and entities in Iran, Hong Kong and Pakistan, accusing them of helping procure weapons and components for Iran's defence ministry during its seven-month war with the US. The move is part of the administration's "Operation Economic Outcast" campaign. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "Treasury will not tolerate any support to the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran's enablers."In sum, Tuesday's developments combined Trump's push for a voluntary AI oversight framework and a new government website with renewed scrutiny over how the site handled political questions, sharp testimony from Smith, and fresh US sanctions linked to Iran's military supply chain.With PTI Inputs- Ends