Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg opposes the White House’s proposed plan to form a regulatory agency for artificial intelligence companies.
Politico reported that Zuckerberg expressed his opposition directly to President Donald Trump during a phone call that took place in the middle of August.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed concerns about plans for a national AI regulator in a previously unreported phone call with President Donald Trump last month, marking the involvement of one of the world’s top tech executives in a fraught White House policy debate.
The proposal, championed by the Nobel Prize-winning Google scientist Demis Hassabis and favored by some top White House officials, would create an independent organization modeled on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, the organization that oversees the securities industry under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission. White House officials envision the group reviewing advanced models and testing them for potential risks before they are deployed more broadly.
When Trump spoke with Zuckerberg directly the week of August 17, Zuckerberg said he opposed the proposal, according to a senior White House official directly familiar with the conversation, who like others in this story, was granted anonymity to discuss a private call.
Another person familiar with the matter said Zuckerberg did not ask Trump to change his position, but told him that people the White House might appoint to the regulatory body should reflect Trump’s own approach to AI, which is widely seen as light-touch. That person added that Trump called Zuckerberg first.
The exchange came after senior White House officials previewed the proposal for a FINRA-style industry regulator with Trump and separately with major tech companies, including Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic, in mid-August, said the White House official.
🚨NEW: Mark Zuckerberg told Trump in a phone call that the WH plan to create a FINRA-like body to regulate AI is flawed
— Sophia Cai (@SophiaCai99) September 3, 2026
- Demis Hassabis briefed WH officials this summer about his idea for a FINRA-style regulator
- senior WH officials previewed the idea w/ Trump and separately…
The agency would be a watchdog of sorts, tasked with vetting frontier AI models for safety and establishing testing protocols to check for cybersecurity and biological threats. It would also enact industry standards under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Supporters say this framework would give Silicon Valley labs predictability while addressing national security concerns.
SCOOP: Mark Zuckerberg opposed plans for a national AI regulator in a secret phone call with President Trump.
— Charles Rollet (@CharlesRollet1) September 3, 2026
The plan, championed by Google's Demis Hassabis and favored by some top White House officials, would create an independent, FINRA-style body to regulate new AI models.
Critics disagree. Those opposing the establishment of the agency point out that copying the FINRA model would create constitutional issues related to accountability and executive power. Others contend that pre-release testing requirements and other forms of government interference could disrupt innovation schedules.
The initiative has stalled as it awaits Trump’s sign-off and remains under consideration as lawmakers debate whether a centralized watchdog group can effectively govern the industry.
