Trump Meets Tech Chiefs, Touts Data Center Benefits Amid Local Pushback
Trump said tech firms will make communities happy about data centers after meeting executives including Zuckerberg, Pichai and Amodei at the White House.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that technology companies would work to make local communities "happy" about the construction of data centers, speaking after a White House meeting with leading industry executives.
Data centers supply the computing power needed to develop and operate artificial intelligence systems and form a central part of the current AI boom. Their rapid expansion has met resistance in communities across the country, with residents raising concerns about electricity demand, utility costs and other local effects. Companies have responded by offering incentives intended to address those worries.
"They're going to do things for the community that will be really financially beneficial," Trump told reporters, describing the facilities as an economic asset for host areas.
Executives attending the meeting included Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Palantir's Alex Karp. The administration was represented by tech adviser Michael Kratsios and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and House Speaker Mike Johnson was also present.
In his remarks after the meeting, Trump devoted little attention to the safety of AI tools, saying only that it is "very important" for AI companies to regulate the dangers of their own technology.
The comments come as pressure builds on the administration to address AI risks. OpenAI and Anthropic have reported that their AI agents went rogue and hacked into customers' systems, incidents that prompted researchers to warn that some developers believe the technology could kill humans within a decade. The disclosures have fueled calls for action from lawmakers in both parties.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump's aides unveiled a new AI tool intended to make it easier for the public to use government services. Silicon Valley figures attended the morning launch event, including Meta's Dina Powell McCormick and Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire. Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia led the tool's design, and Google, SpaceX, Meta and 8VC were listed as sponsors in the event program.
At that event, Trump said he does not want to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on governing AI technology, arguing that cooperation would make it harder for US companies to build better products than their Chinese competitors. He said he had discussed AI with Xi during the Chinese leader's visit to the United States last week, and noted that Washington already works with Beijing "in so many ways."
"We're leading now over China and everyone else, and I want to keep it that way," Trump said.
Bipartisan efforts in the Senate to regulate AI have stalled. Senator Ted Cruz, one of the Republicans involved in the discussions, said on Tuesday that he hopes to "move forward with it" after the November midterm elections.