AI safety pledges could 'build a moat' around big US AI firms, analyst says

US President Donald Trump said tech executives gathered at the White House to discuss AI regulation had signed a "morally binding" commitment to build adequate safeguards on the technology, according to France 24.

Speaking with France 24's Monte Francis, Harrison Rolfes, a senior research analyst at PitchBook, said the push for safeguards could end up protecting the market position of established US AI firms rather than solely addressing safety concerns.

Rolfes said the measures "build a moat" around leading US AI companies, arguing they could prevent open-source models from competing effectively and make it harder for new entrants to introduce frontier models of their own.

The commitment, described by Trump as morally binding rather than legally enforceable, reflects a voluntary approach to AI oversight that has drawn mixed reactions from industry analysts and policy observers.

Neither the White House nor the participating tech executives detailed specific enforcement mechanisms tied to the pledge, leaving questions about how compliance would be assessed going forward.