‘Whoever wins AI wins’: Trump brushes off fears, rejects AI bosses’ calls to slow development
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Whoever wins AI wins’: Trump brushes off fears, rejects AI bosses’ calls to slow development")
US President Donald Trump speaks at a special function during his visit to the US ambassador's residence in the Irish capital Dublin on September 12, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Trump dismissed concerns over the rapid development of AI and rejected calls from industry leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, to slow its progress and strengthen safeguards.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Sept 13) criticised those calling for a slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) development, describing them as “negative” forces. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Ireland, Trump said some critics were raising concerns about developments that he believed would not actually happen.
“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 said.
Trump said the US currently has an advantage over China in AI and stressed that maintaining that lead was crucial. He was responding to questions from reporters about whether the AI sector should face tighter regulations or slow its development.
“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, according to Reuters.
His comments came a day after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies to slow the development of increasingly powerful systems and strengthen safeguards.
Amodei on Saturday proposed a three-part plan aimed at controlling the pace of frontier AI development. He argued that AI systems are becoming capable of helping create more advanced models, raising concerns about how quickly the technology could progress.
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“We must pace the frontier,” Amodei wrote in an essay outlining his proposals.
As part of his first proposal, Amodei called for independent third-party evaluators to receive permanent, employee-level access to frontier AI systems. He said these experts should be able to assess safety measures, report incidents and check whether models remain aligned with their intended goals during training.
Amodei said AI companies should also work together on common safety standards and agree on limits to unchecked development. His third proposal called for greater international cooperation on advanced AI safety.
He also urged democratic governments, including the US, to engage with authoritarian countries on AI safety, while recognising the difficulty of ensuring compliance with international agreements.
Sam Altman, Elon Musk back Amodei
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman supported Amodei’s call for a more measured approach to frontier AI development.
“I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier,” Altman wrote on X.
Altman also backed the proposal for independent evaluators to have employee-like access to AI systems and said OpenAI would adopt a similar approach.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also endorsed Amodei’s position, writing, “Dario is right.”
The debate comes as AI companies race to develop increasingly capable systems, while researchers and industry leaders remain divided over how quickly the technology should advance and what safeguards are needed to manage potential risks.
