President Trump dismissed warnings about artificial intelligence as exaggerated predictions of “things that won’t happen” on Sunday, while playing down calls for tighter regulation and declaring that defeating China in the AI race must remain the top priority.
Speaking at his golf course in Doonbeg, Ireland, Trump said fears about AI’s potential to cause catastrophic harm were overstated. He emphasized instead the importance of keeping the United States ahead in advanced technology and maintaining its position as the global AI 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 in Doonbeg.
“And we can put guardrails; we can do this and that,” he added.
“But I think you have a lot of negative voices that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”
Trump spoke after Anthropic safety researchers Joe Benton and Jacob Coxon resigned in protest, issuing a stark warning about the direction of the global race to develop increasingly powerful AI systems.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei subsequently urged the industry to slow AI development. His call was supported by xAI chief Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
