President Trump is doubling down on his opposition to slowing down the development of artificial intelligence, even as tech leaders warn the industry needs greater restrictions to prevent catastrophe.
“The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax,” the president said Monday over the phone at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles.
The president went on to say, “Now, with that, we have to be a little bit careful. We have to do things, and we have to do it prudently. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop an industry.”
Earlier on Truth Social, President Trump questioned why industry leaders would want regulation, and he called measures to rein in AI a “sick conspiracy.”
He said his focus is keeping America ahead of China in the tech war.
“I’ve said it from the beginning – whoever wins AI, and we’re leading by a lot — whoever wins AI wins,” he explained.
Last week, an industry insider warned that AI technology “could kill us all” within a decade, and that AI developers are “gambling with our lives.”
“I believe that if we don’t slow down, at the current rate of progress, yes, there is a strong chance that we could all die in the immediate future,” Jacob Coxon.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could escape human control entirely and said development “must slow.”
Other leaders quickly agreed that government-backed guardrails are needed for the technology.
Democratic and Republican leaders vow to take a closer look at the dangers of AI and what steps the government should take to make it safer.
One piece of legislation supported by members of both parties is the AI Kill Switch Act.
“Humans must be able to turn off all AI models and agents,” said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA).
Meanwhile, some question if the warnings about AI are overblown.
“What I didn’t like this week is these hyperbolic scare tactics, which I think are hiding behind a political agenda,” said Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital.
