San Francisco's Tech Week has drawn venture capitalists and artificial intelligence founders who are celebrating the White House's decision to step back from regulating the technology, a stance they say will boost profits for companies building AI-powered defense and security systems. The mood at the city's packed restaurants and popup events reflects a broader shift in federal policy away from oversight and toward rapid growth.
At an event organized by the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, whose head serves as a Trump science and tech adviser, panelists praised the government's bullish industry support. Kyle Stanford, a venture capital research director at PitchBook, highlighted the investment opportunity in defense, noting that the U.S. government is allocating $1 trillion to defense spending for the first time, with $13.5 billion directed to autonomous systems and AI. «That has obviously brought a lot of capital into defense tech spending, more than we've ever seen,» Stanford said.
The administration's approach was underscored late last month when President Donald Trump brought tech executives to Washington for a luncheon and ceremonial signing of a voluntary safety pact he described as «almost a constitution» surrounding «Super Intelligence,» the administration's new preferred term for AI. The 308-word agreement states that advanced AI labs should follow safety protocols and establish internal teams to monitor their own progress, but it leaves wide latitude for companies and does not specify how to prevent what OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called «bad things.»
Safety concerns were not top of mind at the San Francisco gathering. A day after the main events, three researchers at OpenAI's headquarters said they had been fired, posting that «fear and unclear rules stymie AI safety work.» David Robinson, a leader on OpenAI's safety team until he recently resigned, expressed worry about letting advanced labs police themselves. «This is no substitute for hard law, and it does give a lot of freedom to the companies,» Robinson said. «The time between model generations is measured in weeks … and I think we have some very serious safety challenges in front of us in the nearer term.»
Trump has staked his political capital on the AI industry's success, arguing that unbridled development is key to winning the AI race against China. On the first day of his second term, he repealed a Biden-era executive order aimed in part at guarding against risks AI systems pose to consumers, workers, and national security. His administration has since canceled requirements for AI developers to share safety test results with the federal government and, in December, signed an executive order aimed at blocking state-level AI regulations, saying a patchwork of rules could stifle the industry.
Even as Silicon Valley companies have disclosed their models' involvement in troubling cyberattacks throughout the year, the tech sector has continued to drive economic growth. Concerns about AI safety centered on existential risk, rather than current real-world harms, landed at the center of debates last month when a relatively unknown Anthropic engineer quit and called for a pause on tech development to keep «superhuman» systems from eluding controls. The CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI then echoed the call to slow AI development. To some critics, their public manifestos appeared aimed at currying favor with investors ahead of public listings and the midterm elections, when political tides could turn with many voters opposed to data centers.
Trump responded on Truth Social by posting: «The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!» He warned voters not to «kill the Golden Goose,» a term he has used to refer to both AI and data centers.
The White House pact was signed by representatives of OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, SpaceXAI, and Nvidia. OpenAI is committed to embedding external assessors and finalizing contracts with third-party safety assessors, according to a spokesperson, who referred to a company post stating that the researchers were fired for violating «clear policies on handling sensitive information.» Google pointed to CEO Sundar Pichai's post that the company does appropriate testing and evaluations and is collaborating «to establish norms and build public confidence.» Meta recently updated its standards for training, evaluating, and releasing its most capable AI models, and a spokesman cited efforts to refine its board's governance structure. Nvidia and SpaceXAI did not respond to requests for comment. Anthropic, which voluntarily disclosed Friday that its agents submitted a false tip to a Philadelphia police website about an unsolved homicide case, is bringing in independent evaluators and discussing collaborations with industry groups, a spokesperson said.