US President Donald Trump has played down concerns raised by industry figures over the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI), saying the United States already has the necessary tools to regulate AI companies and take legal action against them when necessary.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday, Trump said no separate “guardrails” or additional safety measures were needed to regulate AI. In his words, the only thing AI needs is a “strong and smart” president. He also warned that China could benefit if doubts emerge over the pace of AI development in the United States.

According to a Reuters report, public concern over the potential harms of AI is also growing. Last week, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned and claimed that some people involved in developing AI believe the technology could pose a serious threat to humanity by the end of this decade. AI-related stocks also fell across several global markets on Monday. Several senior executives in the industry called for a slowdown in the pace of AI development.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Monday that Trump could meet with executives of AI companies later this week or early next week. The meeting could focus on the companies’ responsibility to ensure safety and whether the government should play a role in overseeing the industry.

Vice President JD Vance has also expressed skepticism about government regulation. He said it seemed somewhat unusual to him that so many leading AI companies were approaching the government and asking to be regulated themselves. Trump, meanwhile, described calls for regulation of the AI industry as a “hoax.”

Anthropic CEO Proposes AI Regulations

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed government regulation for advanced AI models in an essay published Saturday. He called for legislation requiring independent audits of the most advanced AI systems, commonly known as “frontier” models.

Amodei also proposed a three-step framework aimed at slowing the pace of AI development and creating more time to address potential risks. Several other senior executives in the AI industry have backed his initiative, including xAI CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

US Senator Mark Warner held discussions over the weekend with Amodei and Altman about AI safety. The Virginia Democrat has played an influential role in technology-related legislation.

Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang discussed AI safety at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles on Monday. He said companies could voluntarily take steps to temporarily pause or slow the development of the technology if they chose to do so.

During the event, Trump called Huang, and the conversation was played for the audience. In the roughly five-minute conversation, Trump described AI data centers as a major source of wealth creation for people and states. He also referred to data centers as the “oil” of the next 20 to 25 years.

Speaking about critics of AI development, Trump said they were helping people who wanted to stop the advancement of the technology. He suggested that such critics could include political figures and China.

Trump’s approach to major AI and technology companies during his second term has generally been positive. However, his administration has been engaged in a dispute with Anthropic over AI safety issues.

Trump has claimed that his administration has already taken action to prevent “bad or potentially harmful” activities by some individuals in the AI sector, including people associated with Anthropic. He did not provide further details.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth excluded Anthropic from certain military contracts after the company refused to allow its Claude AI models to be used for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons, according to reports.

Anthropic subsequently filed a lawsuit in a California court. On August 27, a US judge ruled in favor of the company in one of the cases.

Trump is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington next week. Reuters had earlier reported that lower-level government officials from the two countries were also planning separate discussions in mid-September on the potential risks posed by AI.

Source: Reuters