Trump Rejects New AI Guardrails as ‘Hoax’
US President Donald Trump has rejected calls for tighter artificial intelligence safeguards, arguing that America already has sufficient oversight and claiming that efforts to restrict AI development could weaken the country’s technological lead over China.
Trump Rejects Calls for New AI Guardrails
Trump said the only AI “guardrails” required were strong presidential leadership, declaring that the United States already had mechanisms to act against companies if their technology caused harm.
In a series of social media posts, Trump dismissed warnings about AI potentially escaping human control or threatening humanity as a “hoax”. He also described opposition to rapid AI and data centre expansion as a “SICK conspiracy”, arguing that China would benefit if American development slowed.
AI Industry Leaders Push for Greater Safety
Trump’s comments followed renewed calls from several leading technology executives for stronger safeguards around increasingly powerful AI models.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has proposed independent audits of advanced “frontier” AI systems and measures aimed at slowing development sufficiently for safety mechanisms to catch up. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI chief Elon Musk have also supported stronger measures addressing risks from rapidly advancing AI capabilities.
US lawmakers are separately considering legislation that could require AI developers to demonstrate reasonable precautions against potential harm.
Trump Says Regulation Could Benefit China
Trump has consistently framed artificial intelligence as a strategic competition in which the United States cannot afford to surrender its technological advantage.
His administration has also been involved in a dispute with Anthropic over restrictions the company placed on certain military uses of its Claude AI models. Trump claimed his administration had already prevented AI companies from undertaking potentially harmful activities, although he did not provide specific examples.
The debate is intensifying as Washington weighs AI safety concerns against economic growth, national security and competition with China.
