Trump and Cruz downplay AI risks while warning of Chinese competition

At a media briefing in Dallas following the Republican midterms convention, President Donald Trump said he does not fear artificial intelligence but cautioned that losing the AI race to China would be detrimental, claiming the U.S. currently leads by about a year. Senator Ted Cruz, speaking, warned that if autonomous weapons emerge, they should be American rather than Chinese, and criticized Beijing for advancing AI without safeguards.

Their comments came after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, warning that the industry is racing toward self-improving superintelligence. On the same day, U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies accused Chinese companies DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Alibaba of stealing AI intellectual property through “distillation.” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed the allegations as smears, heightening tensions ahead of Premier Xi Jinping’s planned Washington visit.