Representatives from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic have reportedly been meeting since July about creating an industry-run body for AI safety testing and auditing. The Information says the working group includes employees below the CEO level and met as recently as the past week.
The companies are considering a launch in late 2026 or 2027 and possible candidates to lead the organization, according to the report. No body has been created, and important questions about its authority, funding, membership and enforcement power remain unresolved.
An industry effort after a government plan stalled
The talks overlap with proposals for a regulator modeled partly on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the private organization that oversees U.S. broker-dealers under government supervision. Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis publicly outlined a self-regulatory approach in July, while Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for AI companies to coordinate on testing and auditing.
The Information reports that the White House circulated a draft executive order for an AI standards organization but that the effort stalled after failing to gain enough support inside the Trump administration. Former White House AI czar David Sacks has criticized a FINRA-like model with government involvement.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees that he supports a testing and auditing organization but believes the major labs may need to create it without U.S. government backing. That would make governance central to its credibility: standards written and enforced only by the companies being evaluated would need clear rules, transparent tests and some form of external accountability to carry weight beyond the members themselves.
The discussions show that the three labs are exploring more formal coordination, but they do not yet amount to a shared safety regime. The report says Meta's position is unclear, and there is no announced charter, leadership team or launch date.