US President Donald Trump has dismissed calls for stronger safeguards around artificial intelligence, arguing that the country already has the legal powers needed to regulate and prosecute AI companies.
His comments appeared to downplay concerns raised by technology leaders over the weekend about the potential misuse of increasingly powerful AI systems.
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“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He also warned that doubts about America’s AI industry could ultimately work to China’s advantage.
“We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies!
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Earlier, the US president had declared: “But whoever wins with AI wins.”
UN calls for urgent action to rein in AI risks
The intervention came as the United Nations rights chief urged governments and companies developing “frontier” artificial intelligence to move quickly against risks he described as “unprecedented”.
In a letter circulated to countries and AI developers and shared with the media, Volker Türk said the world was “on the cusp of irreversible change, affecting not just us but generations of humanity to come”.
UN High commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk cited existential risks in the AI race (file image)
“The current race towards ever more powerful AI is a step change towards greater existential risks to every aspect of our lives,” Mr Türk said.
His warning followed a weekend of mounting anxiety over “superintelligent” computer systems. One researcher publicly resigned from leading AI company Anthropic, citing fears that the technology could eventually move beyond human control.
A second Anthropic employee, who remained at the company, said publicly that “we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans”. He estimated the likelihood of that happening at more than “10% within the next decade”.
Against that backdrop, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies on Saturday to “pace the frontier” by working with rivals to slow the technology’s development. xAI founder Elon Musk and OpenAI chief Sam Altman publicly backed the proposal.
“In today’s world, we are almost entirely reliant on a small number of powerful companies to make the right choices on Al development for all of humanity,” Mr Türk said.
“I call on States and companies to mobilise urgently through multilateral fora to chart a path for action to govern advanced, frontier AI models, grounded in international human rights law,” he added.
Watch: Anthropic co-founder urges action before AI grows beyond control
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said policymakers had only a narrow opportunity to put protections in place before artificial intelligence became too powerful and complex to control.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Clark said AI capabilities were developing at extraordinary speed. He urged governments to act now, while only a limited number of companies possess the resources to build the most advanced systems.
“We are in this window now, and the time to act is when you have a small number of players in industry,” Mr Clark said.
“That’s when you can get a policy regime in place that can prevent accidents, and it can prevent the technology spiralling out of control.”
Dario Amodei called for AI companies to coordinate a slowdown in AI development
China hits back at Anthropic chief’s call to curb development
China’s foreign ministry has rejected the Anthropic chief’s appeal for the US to limit the expansion of China’s artificial intelligence capabilities.
“Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance which serves no-one’s interest,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
Chinese companies have produced powerful AI models that are often less expensive to use than those developed by leading US firms, while some measures suggest they are comparably capable.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has advocated creating a global AI governance framework involving the Global South and has presented China as a leading force in building an open-source AI community.
The head of China’s ministry of state security has also urged “accelerating the establishment of a system for preventing and managing AI security risks” in a recent article.
In an editorial published on Sunday, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper described Mr Amodei’s essay as an indirect effort to “contain” China.
Mr Xi is due to visit the US later in September for talks with Mr Trump, with artificial intelligence expected to be among the issues on the agenda.
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council at the White House, said he expected meetings to take place this week involving administration officials responsible for cyber policy and science and technology, with the next steps to be considered.
Mr Trump may also meet members of Congress, several of whom have raised concerns about the speed of AI development.
“I think the president wants to hear from them as well,” Mr Hassett said.
US House speaker Mike Johnson said there was a need for “some guardrails, some safety measures” to ensure AI “doesn’t run away”.
At the same time, like Mr Trump, he said the US must avoid surrendering its lead in the contest with China, warning that doing so “would be a national security threat”.
Additional reporting: Press Association
