'Whoever wins AI, wins': Trump rejects tech bosses' slowdown call, warns of China

US President Donald Trump has rejected calls to slow the development of artificial intelligence, saying the US must maintain its lead over China, The Financial Times reported on Sunday. 

He said some "guardrails" could be put in place, but argued that the US could not afford to fall behind. "We're leading China in AI...and, frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI, wins," Trump said while speaking to reporters during a trip to his Doonbeg golf course in Ireland.

"We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won't happen," he was quoted as saying. 

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AI Safety Fears Grow

Trump's comments come after leading figures in the US AI industry called for a more cautious approach to development.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said on Saturday that the industry "must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models". In a blog post, Amodei said AI carries serious risks, including losing control of AI systems, the misuse of AI for cyberattacks and bioterrorism, and major economic disruption.

"Like many technologies before it, AI brings risks, and because it is such a powerful technology, these risks are serious," the Anthropic CEO said. "I've written a lot about them too. They include the risk of losing control of AI systems, misuse of AI for cyberattacks and bioterrorism, and serious economic disruption. A race to the bottom, spurred by commercial incentives, can make these risks more acute."

"Along with my co-founders and employees, I have grappled with this duality of risk and benefit since the beginning of Anthropic. Not building the technology deprives humanity of benefits or simply places AI in the hands of authoritarian powers, while building it too fast is reckless," he wrote.

"Over the last few months, I have become convinced that fully addressing the risks requires even more prudence - not just investing in risk prevention, but pacing the rate of capabilities advancement so that risk prevention has time to keep up. We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain. Two things have convinced me."

'We Cannot Put A Moratorium'

Sam Altman of OpenAI and SpaceX chief Elon Musk have also called for a more cautious pace of AI development following warnings over the rapid advance of model capabilities.

The safety debate intensified after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned last week, warning that "the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade."

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, urged people not to 'panic' over the concerns. But he echoed Trump's warning about China and opposed any pause in development. "We cannot put a moratorium on this, because China will overlap us, and that’s the challenge. It’s national security, balanced with the immediate security of making sure the models are safe," Johnson told CNN's State of the Union.