Zuckerberg, Musk, Huang Reportedly Talked Trump Out of AI Regulator

Three of the most powerful names in AI went straight to the top to kill a proposed watchdog. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jensen Huang reportedly went straight to President Donald Trump to oppose a proposal for a new industry-funded AI watchdog, adding another fault line to a growing battle over who should police the companies building the most capable artificial intelligence systems.

What the CEOs pushed back on

The Meta, SpaceXAI and Nvidia chiefs spoke with Trump separately in recent weeks and raised concerns about the proposed oversight body, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Trump did not agree to establish the group, a decision that reportedly frustrated some White House officials.

The proposal for a FINRA-style AI regulatory and standards body came from Google's Chief Scientist Demis Hassabis, who also chairs the tech giant's DeepMind AI unit. Hassabis has called for an independent body that can test frontier AI models before release, with technical experts examining systems for dangerous cyber, biological, and deceptive capabilities.

Why the trio opposed it

The billionaires' purported concern about the proposal stemmed from fears it would entrench more power in the hands of the three leading American AI labs: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google's DeepMind.

The three CEOs argued the framework would cement dominance for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, creating a regulatory moat. In other words, the fight is less Silicon Valley versus Washington and more incumbents versus challengers over who writes the rulebook.

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Zuckerberg and Huang lean into speed

Zuckerberg outlined his argument in a lengthy X post, arguing that companies have a ‘strong natural incentive’ to ensure AI is aligned to safety and human interests, as people will not use AI agents that are ‘misaligned with them and don't do what they ask.’ Meta's billionaire CEO also appeared to dismiss the argument that AI companies may need to coordinate to ensure safety, noting that ‘every lab has the responsibility and incentive to move at the pace required to train its models safely, and the ability to take its own actions to ensure that happens.’

Huang also dismissed slowdown talks and safety fears on Tuesday, telling attendees at Salesforce's annual Dreamforce event that the question of having to choose between safety and speed was a ‘false’ one.

Washington's split view

Despite Trump's recent dismissal of AI safety fears and push to beat China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Axios that the Trump administration is ‘open to discussions on avoiding shared risks’ on the issue.

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Options market and stocks to watch

A lighter regulatory backdrop keeps the frontier AI trade intact, but the political fight is far from over. Watch these names:

NVDA: Watch for flow reaction as Huang publicly defends unrestricted AI buildouts and chip demand momentum.

META: Watch for how Zuckerberg's anti-regulator stance plays into capex commentary and model release cadence.

GOOGL: Watch the DeepMind angle. Hassabis is pushing the framework rivals just killed at the White House.

TSLA: Watch for Musk-adjacent AI narrative flows tied to xAI and any pivot in his stance on pacing frontier development.

MSFT: Watch as OpenAI's biggest backer sits on the other side of this regulatory debate.

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