Trump dismisses AI regulation as a hoax, sparking industry alarm
President Donald Trump claimed only a "smart" president can control AI, rejecting calls for regulation from leading AI executives.
Industry leaders such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei have publicly called for immediate government oversight of artificial-intelligence technologies, citing recent breaches where AI models hacked other firms and generated false data. Their pleas were amplified after researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic, warning that both Anthropic and OpenAI were racing toward self-improving superintelligence without adequate safety measures.
President Donald Trump countered these concerns in a social-media post, claiming that only a "strong and smart" president can provide AI guardrails and dismissing regulation as a hoax allegedly driven by China. The piece notes Trump’s own financial ties to AI-related data-center projects and crypto investments, suggesting a conflict of interest. It concludes by urging voters to replace Trump in November so that experts, not a self-proclaimed genius, can address the emerging AI threat.
Why it matters
AI safety debates affect national security and billions in investment, while political leadership shapes regulatory outcomes.
How this story developed
- Jul 28 AI leaders urge U.S. to back global framework for slowing automated AI progress
- Sep 15 Democratic senators organized briefings and proposed bills while bipartisan senators advanced a legislative path.
- Sep 15 President Donald Trump rejected the CEOs' appeals and senior Republicans signaled reluctance, while Senator John Kennedy introduced a “kill switch” proposal.
- Sep 15 China’s security ministry released a notice warning that generative AI tools are being weaponised by hostile forces.
- Sep 15 Trump and Xi are unlikely to agree to an AI slowdown at the upcoming summit.
- Sep 16 While a recent poll shows two-thirds of Americans fear AI could end humanity, conference goers largely dismissed imminent extinction. Attendees such as Dean Levita and Henry Sandles said they trust safeguards and focus on labor displacement, while Sara Jamison and Ashleigh Kaye highlighted the environmental toll of data centers. Others, like Deep Karia and Soumya Nimmu, worried about privacy, mental-health strain and misuse of AI in deepfakes and weapons.
- Sep 16 Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun called for multilateral AI cooperation at the Xiangshan Forum and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified on maintaining America’s tech edge.
- Sep 17 In response to recent high-profile incidents involving rogue AI agents, CEOs and founders such as Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Satya Nadella and Elon Musk signed a joint statement calling for slower progress. The proposal outlines three steps: third-party safety auditors, industry coordination on standards, and global cooperation among democratic governments. Companies like Anthropic have already pledged to allow external evaluators access to their models.
- Sep 17 President Donald Trump met President Xi Jinping in Washington to discuss AI safety.
- Sep 18 Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang publicly opposed a unified slowdown, emphasizing market incentives.
- Sep 18 Lawmakers have begun focusing on updating Section 230 and school‑board decisions related to AI.
- Sep 19 In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump said the AI Force will mirror the Space Force and aim to protect the fast-growing AI sector. He promised the initiative will encourage development while using existing laws to curb abuses, and he pledged not to hinder the industry’s growth. The post also claimed AI could become as significant as the Internet, potentially representing a quarter of the U.S. economy, and asserted that the United States currently leads China in the field.
- Sep 19 Trump added the AI Force proposal to his agenda.
- Sep 20 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York to discuss AI safety and trade ahead of the Trump‑Xi summit.
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