President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed growing calls from leading AI executives for a development slowdown, declaring that the only guardrail the technology needs is himself and framing the safety push as a conspiracy that benefits China3,12,13.
"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!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. In a follow-up post, he called the push against AI and data centers a "SICK conspiracy" and warned: "WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so"14,11.
The industry split
Trump's posts were a direct response to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who published a roughly 3,800-word essay on Saturday calling for slower development of frontier AI models. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman endorsed Amodei's position in a weekend social-media post, and Elon Musk also voiced agreement with calls for a slowdown. The executives have argued that advanced AI could present risks including cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and autonomous systems operating beyond human oversight7.
Trump singled out Amodei by name, saying the administration has already stopped Anthropic "from doing bad, or potentially bad" things and describing Amodei as "now pretending to be a perfect little angel". Anthropic has had a fraught relationship with the Trump administration, with the Pentagon attempting to label the company's models a security risk and temporarily banning one of its more advanced models.
Separately, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark told the BBC on Monday that AI companies should be required to maintain a verifiable "kill switch" capable of shutting down advanced systems if they become dangerous, adding that Anthropic already has such a mechanism10.
Vance echoes the skepticism
Vice President JD Vance reinforced Trump's stance, questioning the motives of AI firms lobbying for government regulation. "It feels a little bit to me like a bit of a Trojan horse," Vance told journalists, while advocating for a unified approach between Congress and the White House to address AI risks without ceding America's competitive position to China4.
Trump also asserted that the United States already possesses "tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies" and called the notion that AI could take over the world and destroy humanity a "hoax". He argued that regulation could cause China to eclipse America on AI1.
The controversy has had market consequences: the prospect of slower AI buildout led stocks to slip in Monday morning trading2. AI buildout has accounted for a large share of economic growth during Trump's second term, according to Trump.
Beijing's parallel debate
China's top intelligence official, Chen Yixin, warned in an article published by the state-run magazine China Cyberspace on Sunday that AI could threaten the Chinese Communist Party's grip on power, calling for tighter government oversight and greater party control of the technology. Chen cited risks ranging from foreign espionage and misinformation campaigns to cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, while also highlighting U.S. AI models as emerging cybersecurity threats.
Microsoft on Monday published its own code of conduct to ensure that humans control AI.
Trump is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House next week, with AI safety expected to be a central issue at the summit.