US President Donald Trump has dismissed growing concerns about the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), describing them as a “hoax” while rejecting calls for stronger safeguards around the rapidly developing technology.
Trump’s comments come as prominent figures in the AI industry and politics increasingly warn about the potential risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems.
Jack Clark, co-founder of AI company Anthropic, recently told the BBC that governments may eventually need to require AI companies to have a third-party-verified “kill switch” capable of shutting down an AI system if it becomes dangerously uncontrollable.
His remarks followed a series of warnings from executives and researchers at major AI companies about the potential risks the technology could pose to humanity.
Trump Rejects Calls for AI Guardrails
In a series of social media posts, Trump compared concerns over AI safety to what he described as the “Global Warming Scam”, which he blamed on the “Radical Left Dumocrats”.
The US president also referred to himself as “the Hoax Buster”, comparing AI safety concerns with what he called the “RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX”.
Trump argued that AI does not need extensive regulatory restrictions, saying the only “guardrails” necessary were provided by a “strong and smart” president.
In another post, he warned about what he described as a conspiracy against AI development and data centres.
“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!”
Trump’s comments highlight his administration’s focus on maintaining US leadership in AI development and preventing China from gaining an advantage in the rapidly expanding technology sector.
China Warns Against US AI Policy Shift
Chinese state media has also weighed in on the debate, suggesting that concerns about China’s progress in AI could be influencing US policy.
Experts quoted by the Global Times argued that Washington’s concerns over China’s advances in artificial intelligence could lead to policies that slow down US development.
“They know that China has become a strong competitor in AI, and worry that if the US slows down development or tightens regulation, China could catch up even faster,” Xin Qiang, a professor of American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
Anthropic Calls for AI ‘Kill Switch’
Clark, one of Anthropic’s seven founders, said earlier on Monday that society may eventually need regulations requiring AI developers to maintain a mechanism capable of completely shutting down AI software if it becomes too dangerous.
He said “most labs have different ways of being able to pull the plug”, including Anthropic, but suggested lawmakers could eventually make such measures mandatory across the industry.
The proposal comes amid growing debate over whether governments should impose stronger safety requirements on AI developers as models become increasingly capable.
UK Minister Urges Caution Without ‘Hyperbole’
UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said people should “never be complacent” about the potential impact of AI, while warning against exaggerating the risks.
Speaking to the BBC, Reynolds said: “We’ve got to be careful not to get hyperbolic about this either.”
He acknowledged the potential dangers of the technology but also pointed to its potential benefits.
“Of course there are risks but, let’s be frank, there are some tremendous upsides, whether it’s public services, healthcare, the contribution to the economy.”
Microsoft AI Joins Growing Safety Debate
Calls for stronger AI safeguards have also gained support within the technology industry.
Microsoft AI recently discussed limiting some of the models it is developing in a document outlining what it called “humanist AI”.
Microsoft AI chief executive Mustafa Suleyman told CNBC that his team had been working on the guidance for several months and decided to publish it amid the growing debate over AI safety.
The issue has also brought together political figures from across the US political spectrum.
Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon and progressive Senator Bernie Sanders are scheduled to appear at the “Pro-Human Assembly” in Washington, where discussions will focus on the future direction of AI policy.
According to organisers, the event seeks to develop “a shared vision and articulate a better, more human-centric path for AI development”.
Sanders Warns of AI’s ‘Existential Threat’
Sanders has previously called for immediate action to slow what he described as the uncontrolled growth of AI.
Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight last week, he said: “we have got to do something immediately to stop the uncontrolled growth of AI”.
“You’ve got the existential threat of the possibility of humanity being wiped out,” he added.
The debate intensified after a post by Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher who left the company over concerns about the possibility of AI contributing to human extinction, went viral.
Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger subsequently said he believed the probability of AI causing human extinction “within the next decade” was more than 10%.
AI Leaders Debate Regulation and Development
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has called for a slower pace of AI development and stronger monitoring of the technology.
However, Amodei has also stressed that any efforts to regulate or slow AI development should be undertaken “without sacrificing commercial advantage”.
Other major AI executives have expressed support for greater oversight.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and xAI founder Elon Musk have also backed proposals for industry-wide efforts to slow development, introduce stronger regulation and establish independent monitoring of AI model development.
The growing disagreement highlights a major policy challenge facing governments and technology companies: how to encourage innovation and maintain economic and geopolitical competitiveness while ensuring increasingly powerful AI systems are developed and deployed safely.
