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President Donald Trump on Sunday likened critics of artificial intelligence (AI) to “very negative forces” bringing up scenarios that won’t happen, and said he wants to make sure the U.S. remains the industry leader.
“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 at his Ireland golf course when asked if the AI industry should slow down or be more regulated.
“We could put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of very negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”
Trump’s visit to Ireland this weekend began with talks with President Catherine Connolly and Prime Minister Micheál Martin. Trump then travelled to watch the Irish Open tournament at his golf course.
Public debate about AI heats up
Trump has resisted stirring concerns about AI.
The public debate about the technology has heated up in the U.S. after two researchers with the safety and research company Anthropic issued warnings that the rapidly progressing technology could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future.
In his second term, Trump’s administration has largely embraced AI firms. AI leaders and other technology companies have also supported Trump’s initiatives.
AI executives have poured money into the midterm campaign ahead of the Nov. 3 election that will determine control of Congress. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s super political action committee, America PAC, has already spent millions backing Republican candidates and is expected to play a major role in voter turnout efforts this fall.
- Cross Country Checkup is asking: What questions do you have about potential AI threats, and what should be done about them? Leave your comment here and we may read it or call you back for Sunday’s show
This year, the Pentagon warned of risks from Anthropic’s model.
After the researcher warnings, some AI CEOs are pushing for slowing the advancement of the technology.
Tough to set ‘speed limit’ in AI race: Anthropic CEO
On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei outlined a three-step framework intended to pace development and create more time to manage its risks. The proposal immediately received endorsements from several other executives at major AI companies, including Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Two AI experts are warning that AI is getting too smart, too quickly. One former employee accuses Anthropic and OpenAI of ‘gambling with our lives.’ A current Anthropic safety executive said he thinks there’s a ten per cent chance AI kills all humans within a decade.
In an interview that aired Sunday on the CBS program Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, Amodei said the competition between U.S. and Chinese AI companies was the “toughest dilemma” in trying to establish a “speed limit” on the rate of AI development.
“We shouldn’t kid ourselves because the incentives to pull ahead and the military advantage that you get from that are so large, that the ability to check that the other side isn’t cheating has to be ironclad,” he said. “So I think that’s going to be the work of years, and honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible.”
Jacob Coxon, one of the Anthropic researchers who resigned and then issued the warnings, pushed for the U.S. to work with other countries to ensure pace.
“I feel we need international co-ordination or else we risk running the same race with China, which could be equally dangerous,” Coxon said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
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