Trump launches federal AI chatbot and announces safety pledge

President Donald Trump launched America.gov, a federal artificial intelligence chatbot designed to help people find information across government websites, on Tuesday, September 29, while urging Americans to embrace AI and announcing a voluntary industry commitment to develop the technology safely. The tool’s initial function is to help users search government information. Helping people enroll in programs such as Medicare is a later goal, not a capability the launch reports said was already available. The sources provided no performance testing or results demonstrating how well the chatbot answers questions. Trump presented the launch as an example of AI’s potential and argued that the United States must keep innovating to compete with China. At a gathering with technology executives, he said oversight would depend substantially on companies policing themselves. He announced that companies had signed a voluntary joint commitment that includes internal and external reviews, but details of the commitment and how it would be enforced were not specified. Trump also proposed a committee of 10 industry leaders to act as watchdogs. The proposal’s details were not immediately clear.