US President Donald Trump has dismissed growing concerns over the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), rejecting calls for tighter safeguards as a growing number of technology leaders warn that the rapid development of the technology could pose serious risks.
Trump described fears over AI as a “hoax” and argued that excessive regulation could undermine the United States’ ability to maintain its lead over China in the global AI race.
In a series of social media posts on Monday, the US president compared concerns about AI safety to what he called the “Global Warming Scam” and other controversies he has previously described as political hoaxes.
“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centres, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” Trump wrote.
He also said the only “guardrails” required for AI were a “strong and smart” president, signalling his opposition to calls for broader regulatory restrictions on the industry.
Trump’s position comes as prominent figures within the AI sector are increasingly calling for mechanisms to control the technology if it becomes dangerous.
Jack Clark, co-founder of AI company Anthropic, said society may eventually need rules requiring AI developers to have an independently verifiable way of shutting down dangerous systems.
Clark said most major AI laboratories, including Anthropic, already have mechanisms that allow them to “pull the plug” on their systems, but suggested lawmakers could make such safeguards mandatory across the industry.
His comments followed a series of warnings from AI researchers and executives about the potential consequences of increasingly powerful models.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has called for the pace of AI development to be slowed and subjected to greater monitoring, while stressing that any measures should be implemented without undermining the industry’s commercial competitiveness.
The calls have received support from rival AI executives, including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and xAI founder Elon Musk, who have backed proposals for industry-wide deceleration, regulation and independent monitoring of AI development.
The growing disagreement over safeguards has also begun to influence financial markets, with shares in some technology companies coming under pressure on Monday as investors considered whether tighter controls could slow the expansion of the AI industry.
Meanwhile, Microsoft AI has outlined a new approach it calls “humanist AI”, setting out principles aimed at placing greater emphasis on human interests as AI systems become more powerful.
Microsoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said the company had been working on the guidance for months but chose to release it amid the intensifying debate over the future direction of AI.
The debate has also crossed political lines in the United States.
Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon and progressive Senator Bernie Sanders are scheduled to appear at a “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington, where participants are expected to call for a reassessment of AI policy and a more human-centred approach to the technology.
Sanders has separately warned that action is needed to address what he described as the uncontrolled growth of AI, including the possibility that advanced systems could pose an existential threat to humanity.
Concerns intensified after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon left the company over fears that AI could eventually contribute to human extinction.
Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger subsequently estimated that the possibility of AI causing human extinction within the next decade was more than 10 per cent.
While Trump has framed the debate largely as a question of maintaining US technological leadership, critics and AI safety advocates argue that rapid development without effective safeguards could expose society to risks that governments and companies may struggle to control.
China, meanwhile, has accused Washington of allowing its rivalry with Beijing to shape its AI policy.
Chinese state media quoted Fudan University professor Xin Qiang as saying US concerns over China’s progress in AI could be influencing calls for regulation, with Beijing arguing that tighter US restrictions could give China an opportunity to close the technological gap.
