Donald Trump has rejected calls from Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman and SpaceX's Elon Musk for a slower pace of AI development, insisting the US must keep its lead over China. The dispute comes as Democrats demand tighter regulation and Republicans warn that restrictions would cede ground to Beijing, two weeks before Xi Jinping is due in Washington.
Donald Trump has rejected calls for an AI slowdown after tech bosses and Democrats urged tighter regulation of the industry over rising fears the technology poses an existential threat. Trump told reporters during a trip to his Doonbeg golf course in Ireland that some guardrails were possible, but the US must retain its international leadership in the area. According to the Financial Times: "whoever wins AI, wins".
Tech leaders warn of existential risk
The heads of some of the leading US AI groups — Amodei, Altman and Musk — called this weekend for a more cautious pace of development following safety warnings over rapidly advancing model capabilities. Amodei wrote in a Saturday essay that the industry must slow the pace at which it improves AI model capabilities, calling for monitoring by third-party evaluators, industry safety standards and global coordination of rules. Altman and Musk voiced support for the proposals.
Those warnings followed the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who said the people building AI earnestly believe it could kill everyone by the end of the decade. Coxon later called Amodei's proposal a substantial step toward slowing unchecked AI advancement, though he said more engagement with China was still needed.
White House and Republicans push back
The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers pushed back, arguing that AI companies can slow their own advance without measures that would hand a competitive edge to China. Trump's former AI tsar, David Sacks, said on X that the companies should stop pretending they need anyone else's permission and should pace the frontier themselves. House Speaker Mike Johnson urged people not to panic and called for a meeting between tech bosses and lawmakers at the White House, echoing Trump's concerns about ceding ground to China.
The comments come two weeks before Xi Jinping is expected to visit Washington for a summit with Trump, following their meeting in Beijing in May. After that meeting, Trump said the two leaders had discussed AI guardrails, and Chinese state media said the presidents had agreed to set up an AI dialogue.
Democrats demand faster action
Democrats lashed out at the Republican response. Arizona senator Ruben Gallego accused Johnson and Trump of not meeting the moment on the threat AI poses, while Georgia senator Jon Ossoff accused tech leaders of digging bunkers while warning of human extinction. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans had abandoned their responsibility and called for Congress to take decisive action now.
Source: Financial Times
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