US President Donald Trump held a private meeting with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman backstage at the Republican midterm convention on Thursday, as a growing debate over the pace and safety of advanced artificial intelligence development puts the technology industry under increasing scrutiny. Three people familiar with the meeting told MS NOW that Altman had requested the meeting with Trump.

Details of the discussion were limited, but one person familiar with the conversation said it focused largely on artificial intelligence and the growing power of the technology. The meeting came days after a former OpenAI researcher publicly accused OpenAI and rival Anthropic of acting irresponsibly and “gambling with our lives”.

Altman Calls For Caution On AI Development

Altman and Trump have adopted sharply different positions in recent days over whether the development of increasingly powerful AI systems should be slowed. Altman wrote on Sunday that slowing the pace of AI development “will be well worth this cost”, arguing that competitive pressure should not be allowed to encourage recklessness or push AI capabilities ahead of alignment and monitoring.

Altman also said over the weekend that OpenAI would delay going public this year, citing safety concerns. He has been joined in calling for greater caution by Elon Musk and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei. In a rare alignment among prominent technology executives, the three have argued that AI development needs to slow before the technology advances beyond human control.

Trump Rejects Calls For Tighter Guardrails

Trump, however, took a markedly different position on Monday, rejecting calls for stronger restrictions on the AI industry. In a post on Truth Social, he dismissed the need for AI guardrails, saying the technology requires only “a strong and smart president”.

In another post, Trump warned that regulation could push the AI industry towards “oblivion and bankruptcy” and described artificial intelligence as “the greatest economic development engine in history”. He has consistently argued that government rules should not stand in the way of technological innovation.

Shortly after returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump revoked a Biden-era directive that had established parameters for AI development. In December, he signed an executive order aimed at creating a federal framework and national standard for AI that would pre-empt state-level regulation. The order said US AI companies should be allowed to innovate without “cumbersome regulation”.

White House AI Framework Yet To Be Made Public

Trump signed another executive order in June directing the federal government to work with AI developers on a voluntary framework under which the government would have access to new AI models for up to 30 days before their release. Altman supported the move at the time, writing on X that the US should continue developing the “very best” AI models while ensuring that they are safe.

The framework was completed by its August 1 deadline, according to a White House official. The administration brought AI companies together the following day to discuss the framework, with a person familiar with the meeting confirming that Anthropic was among those present.

The White House did not release a readout of the meeting and has not publicly released the finalised framework. Trump and Altman were last seen together in public in June, when they attended a Group of Seven working lunch alongside world leaders and technology executives. The two were seated next to each other at the event.

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