President Trump brushed aside artificial intelligence doomsayers Sunday as “things that won’t happen” and downplayed the need for more regulation — saying that beating China was the most important goal in the AI race.
Trump, at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, contended that the apocalyptic predictions of what AI can do are overblown and underscored that his priority is to ensure the US remains the leader in cutting-edge 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 in Doonbeg.
“And we can put guardrails; we can do this and that,” he added.
“But I think you have a lot of negative voices that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”
The president’s comments come after Anthropic safety researchers Joe Benton and Jacob Coxon quit in protest, issuing a dramatic warning about where the scramble to advance AI was heading.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei then called for a slowdown in AI development, which was backed by xAI boss Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
