House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the United States must "strike the right balance" between artificial-intelligence innovation and oversight as President Donald Trump prepares to meet technology executives at the White House Tuesday amid a widening debate over AI safety.

Johnson Rejects Moratorium Ahead Of Trump Meeting

"We do not need a moratorium. We do not need to jump in and hyper-regulate this, because we'll lose the race to China," Johnson told Fox Business on Monday. "The innovation is important to continue, but we have to strike the right balance. That's what the conversation is going to be about."

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang are expected to attend, Reuters reported. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk are among other possible participants as Washington weighs oversight against U.S. competitiveness.

Johnson said safety still requires "transparency" and "some oversight," adding that "there may be a role for the DOJ if things go awry." Trump has taken a similarly light-touch position. He told the U.N. General Assembly last week that the Justice Department would watch AI closely, while saying he would not "stifle growth" in a technology he described as potentially bigger than the Industrial Revolution.

AI Leaders Push For Stronger Safety Guardrails

The meeting comes as major AI companies press for stronger safeguards. Amodei has urged frontier labs to slow capability gains so safety work can keep pace. OpenAI has separately called for mandatory, capability-based national AI safety requirements. Nvidia on Monday unveiled its Open Agent Safety Platform, with Huang saying the industry must "raise the bar for global AI safety."

Polling Shows Public Concern Over AI Safety

Public concern has also increased. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Sept. 22 found 73% of Americans believed AI companies were not doing enough to prevent serious harm, while 55% supported slowing development to improve safety and oversight. Respondents prioritized safe and responsible AI development over global competitiveness by 73% to 23%.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Monday that Congress should "lean in boldly and responsibly" on AI safety. Johnson said the immediate task is preserving innovation while adding transparency and oversight without imposing a moratorium.