Trump suggests AI doesn’t need any more guardrails, only a ‘STRONG AND SMART’ president

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President Donald Trump on Monday all but rejected calls from AI industry leaders for more government regulation on their cutting-edge models, making clear he considers outpacing China a higher priority than addressing growing public concerns.

Trump asserted in a social media post that a “SICK conspiracy” was afoot to undermine AI, and claimed his oversight alone was enough to prevent models from going rogue. Others inside the administration, including Vice President JD Vance, cast doubt on the motivations that led executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, to call for more government oversight.

The stance has placed the White House at odds with growing public skepticism of AI and wedged vulnerable Republicans in a tough spot as they work to show voters they take the concerns seriously. Even some White House officials privately say they are worried about Trump’s apparent lack of concern about AI’s dangers — a position he’s held for months and has been seemingly unmoved by any industry warnings.

Over four consecutive days, the president has continued to downplay the need to apply new safety checks. He said Monday the US already has “tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies!”

“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, where he frequently posts AI-generated images and videos of himself.

He said the administration had already prevented AI companies from doing “bad, or potentially bad, ‘things,’” and singled out Amodei for “now pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel.’”

Trump has long espoused the benefits of AI, and many industry leaders have contributed financially to some of his priority projects, including his inaugural fund and the ballroom he is building at the White House.

AI’s meteoric growth has also led to major stock market gains and buoyed the manufacturing sector through data center construction, both of which Trump points to as evidence of a strong economy under his watch. He called AI “the golden goose” in a second social media post Monday.

Yet fears about AI’s potential to eliminate jobs and data centers’ impact on communities have led to a souring in public sentiment. Recent warnings about security concerns have amplified calls for new guardrails.

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Vance cast doubt on calls from industry executives for more AI regulation, warning it could amount to a “trojan horse” by companies that could benefit from new restrictions.

“There are obvious risks to AI, there are some benefits to AI,” Vance said. “I have to say, personally, I feel a little bit weird about the fact that you have so many frontier AI tech companies kind of coming to the government and begging the government to regulate them.”

Still, Vance acknowledged the new technology comes with risks and said he hopes the White House and Congress would work together to develop new guardrails.

“I don’t think Americans should be scared of anything. I think we have to be mindful that there are risks, there are downsides to anything, and that’s certainly true of AI,” Vance told reporters before boarding a plane for a campaign swing.

White House officials said there would likely be meetings set up this week with administration experts on AI and cybersecurity to discuss potential new regulations on the technology. House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking Sunday, said he hoped to convene talks with Trump, lawmakers and AI executives to plot a path forward.

A new effort was also underway among US officials to beef up planned discussions about AI with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to Washington for a state visit next week. Trump has been eagerly preparing for the occasion, including by finishing up renovation work on the North Portico and a new helipad on the South Lawn.

When the two men last met in Beijing in May, they discussed AI guardrails but produced limited results. Last week the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said the two leaders had agreed to set up an intergovernmental dialogue on AI.

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周一，唐纳德·特朗普总统几乎完全拒绝了人工智能行业领袖们要求政府对其尖端模型进行更多监管的呼吁，明确表示他认为超越中国比解决日益增长的公众担忧更为重要。

特朗普在社交媒体上发文称，一场旨在破坏人工智能的“邪恶阴谋”正在酝酿，并声称仅凭他的监管就足以防止模型失控。然而，包括副总统万斯在内的其他政府官员则对包括Anthropologie首席执行官达里奥·阿莫迪在内的企业高管呼吁加强政府监管的动机表示怀疑。

这一立场使白宫与公众对人工智能日益增长的怀疑态度背道而驰，也让处境艰难的共和党人陷入困境，他们必须努力向选民表明自己重视这些担忧。甚至一些白宫官员私下表示，他们对特朗普明显缺乏对人工智能危险性的关注感到担忧——他几个月来一直持这种态度，似乎对任何行业警告都置若罔闻。

总统连续四天淡化实施新的安全检查的必要性。他周一表示，美国已经对这些公司拥有“巨大的刑事和监管权力！”

“人工智能唯一需要的控制或‘护栏’就是一位强大而聪明（高智商！）的总统，而美国在这方面人才济济！”特朗普在Truth Social上写道，他经常在该平台上发布人工智能生成的自己的图像和视频。

他说，政府已经阻止了人工智能公司做“坏事，或者潜在的坏事”，并特别指出阿莫迪“现在假装成一个‘完美的小天使’”。

特朗普长期以来一直倡导人工智能的好处，许多行业领袖也为他的一些优先项目提供了资金支持，包括他的就职基金和他正在白宫建造的宴会厅。

人工智能的迅猛发展也带动了股市大幅上涨，并通过数据中心建设提振了制造业，特朗普将这两点都视为他执政期间经济强劲增长的证据。周一，他在第二条社交媒体帖子中称人工智能为“金鹅”。

然而，公众对人工智能可能导致失业以及数据中心对社区影响的担忧，已经导致公众情绪恶化。近期有关安全问题的警告，也加剧了人们对建立新的安全保障措施的呼声。

万斯在安德鲁斯联合基地接受记者采访时，对行业高管呼吁加强人工智能监管表示怀疑，并警告说，这可能会成为一些公司利用新限制措施的“特洛伊木马”。

“人工智能既有显而易见的风险，也有一些好处，”万斯说。“就我个人而言，看到这么多前沿人工智能技术公司跑来求政府监管，我感觉有点怪异。”

不过，万斯也承认这项新技术存在风险，并表示希望白宫和国会能够共同努力，制定新的保障措施。

“我认为美国人不应该害怕任何事情。我认为我们必须意识到，任何事物都有风险和弊端，人工智能当然也不例外，”万斯在登上飞机开始竞选之旅前告诉记者。

白宫官员表示，本周可能会安排与政府人工智能和网络安全专家举行会议，讨论可能出台的关于该技术的新法规。众议院议长迈克·约翰逊周日表示，他希望召集特朗普、议员和人工智能行业高管举行会谈，共同制定前进方向。

美国官员也在积极筹备，力求加强与中国国家主席习近平下周访美期间就人工智能问题进行的磋商。特朗普总统一直在积极筹备此次访问，包括完成北门廊的翻新工程以及在南草坪新建直升机停机坪。

今年5月，两人在北京会晤时讨论了人工智能安全保障措施，但成果有限。上周，中国商务部表示，两国领导人已同意建立人工智能政府间对话机制。