WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump hosted leading technology executives at the White House for a meeting focused on artificial intelligence, and its growing risks, but an unexpected exchange with Google CEO Sundar Pichai quickly became one of the event’s most talked-about moments.
As Trump introduced Pichai to reporters following the meeting, he described the Google CEO as a “monster” while praising his success and relatively low public profile. The unusual remark prompted Pichai to respond with a joke of his own.
Trump turned toward Pichai and appeared to invite him to speak. But as Pichai stepped forward, Trump interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
“This guy is a monster, and nobody even knows him,” Trump said, before continuing to praise Pichai’s career and public image.
Pichai appeared amused by the comment and replied, “Hopefully a better tagline than I am a monster!” The lighthearted exchange came after Trump met with some of the technology industry’s most prominent figures to discuss the future and safety of artificial intelligence.
Trump has also increasingly referred to the technology as “super intelligence.” The meeting brought together executives and senior figures from companies including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Nvidia. Among those present were Pichai, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
During the meeting, Trump and technology leaders announced a voluntary agreement focused on AI safety. The accord calls on participating companies to establish internal safeguards and use outside reviews and audits to assess risks associated with their AI systems.
Trump described the agreement as “morally binding,” rather than a legally enforceable regulation. Pichai later addressed the meeting in a post on X, saying Google had invested heavily in AI and would continue working on the technology while emphasizing testing, evaluations, red-teaming and other safeguards.
He also said Google was committed to working with other technology companies to establish industry standards and build public confidence in AI.
