U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed warnings about the risks posed by rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, describing those raising concerns as “very negative forces” and saying the United States must maintain its lead over China in the technology.
“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins,” Trump told reporters at his golf course in Ireland when asked whether the industry should slow its development or face greater regulation.
“We could put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of very negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”
Trump later said he was not minimizing AI risks, arguing that the technology would ultimately have a substantially positive impact.
“I’m not downplaying,” Trump said, adding that AI is “going to be more good than bad … by a lot.”
He repeated his view that the country that prevails in AI will gain a significant advantage.
Trump’s comments come amid an intensifying debate in the United States over the pace of AI development and the potential economic, social and national security risks associated with the technology.
The debate has been fueled in part by warnings from researchers at AI safety company Anthropic that increasingly capable AI systems could eventually pose an existential threat to humanity.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for measures to slow the pace of AI development sufficiently to give governments and companies more time to address safety concerns.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Amodei described the competition between U.S. and Chinese AI companies as the “toughest dilemma” in trying to establish a “speed limit” for AI development.
“We shouldn’t kid ourselves because the incentives to pull ahead and the military advantage that you get from that are so large, that the ability to check that the other side isn’t cheating has to be ironclad,” he said. “So I think that’s going to be the work of years, and honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible.”
Jacob Coxon, one of the Anthropic researchers who resigned and subsequently warned about the risks of advanced AI, said the United States should work with other countries to manage the pace of development.
“I feel we need international co-ordination or else we risk running the same race with China, which could be equally dangerous,” Coxon said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump’s administration has broadly supported the U.S. AI industry during his second term, while major technology companies and AI executives have backed several of his initiatives.
The technology has also become an increasingly prominent political issue ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections, with communities and politicians debating the impact of large data centres being built to support AI computing.
Concerns have included pressure on electricity grids, water consumption and the conversion of farmland for data-centre projects. Trump has continued to support the expansion of data centres despite growing opposition in some communities.
Former President Barack Obama has urged Democrats to make AI a campaign issue, including its potential impact on employment and children.
“I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety, here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this.’ … I would be thinking about the economic impacts in very concrete ways and understanding what does it mean if there’s going to be job displacement. Where is that going to hit? How are we going to respond?” Obama said last week at an event with U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a transcript released by Obama’s office.
The AI debate also comes as the United States and China compete for technological and military advantages in advanced computing and AI.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit the White House later in September for talks with Trump, with AI expected to be among the issues discussed.
Trump was in Ireland this weekend for talks with President Catherine Connolly and Prime Minister Micheál Martin before attending the Irish Open at his golf course in Doonbeg.
On Saturday, Amodei proposed a three-step framework aimed at pacing AI development and allowing more time to address potential risks. The proposal received support from executives at several major AI companies, including Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The Pentagon this year also warned of risks associated with Anthropic’s AI model, adding to tensions between the company and the U.S. government over the use and control of advanced AI systems.
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Faustine Ngila is the AI Editor at Impact Newswire, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is an award-winning journalist specializing in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and emerging technologies.
He previously worked as a global technology reporter at Quartz in New York and Digital Frontier in London, where he covered innovation, startups, and the global digital economy.
With years of experience reporting on cutting-edge technologies, Faustine focuses on AI developments, industry trends, and the impact of technology on society.
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