AI Makers Make Pinky-Promise Pledge Over AI Safety, But Will It Truly Save Us From Human Extinction?

In today’s column, I examine the recent White House pledge signed by several prominent AI makers regarding their avowed support for AI safety. This pledge was presented by President Trump during a White House ceremony on September 29, 2026, during which the attending AI makers affixed their signatures to the ceremonial document.

An important heads-up about this pledge is that, presumably, it is purely a “morally binding” promise by the AI makers and not an actual legal commitment per se. Though a legal assertion could be made that the pledge somehow binds them to the aspirational AI safety indications, you would be hard-pressed to use that as surefire evidence to hold their feet to the fire. I’m not saying that some enterprising lawyers won’t try to float that claim during a legally contested AI issue, but this is merely a public declaration and not a requisite legal obligation. Despite the social media howls that the pledge has zero value, I suggest that we give it some weight as to potential public pressure that could be mounted toward these AI makers. That’s more than nothing, but admittedly less than something grand.

Let’s talk about it. This analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage of the latest in AI, including identifying and explaining key AI complexities (see the link here).

Renaming AI To Be Super Intelligence

In terms of the pledge, there are four key components. I will walk through each of those heady components. It is useful to see what the AI makers are seemingly pledging to do or undertake. This can be compared to what the world is currently wondering, namely, will the efforts of advancing AI walk us straight off a cliff and allow AI to wipe us all out? Known as the probability of doom, p(doom), global news is replete these days with handwringing that AI is an existential risk and unless we do something substantial, our days are numbered.

Time will tell.

Analysis of Pledge #1

Here’s the language of pledge #1: