AI governance is being decided, and the public is not in the room

A Tech Policy Press commentary argues that frontier AI governance is being decided by a small number of corporate executives and government officials in closed-door meetings, lacking political accountability. The article says the Trump administration, on the one hand, convened frontier AI companies to sign the voluntary White House Accord on Super Intelligence, while the FTC investigated some signatories, and then appointed FTC Chair Ferguson to the newly created Super Intelligence Force. The article cites polls saying 57% of Americans support immediate federal regulation, 63% support a pause on AI development and data center construction, and 86% support independent safety standards even if it slows development. The author cites SAFA, being organized by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google with an expected launch as early as 2027, and proposes three criteria—representation, transparency, and accountability—arguing that academia, independent experts, and civil society should be included before the charter and governance structure are finalized.