Trump floats ‘AI Force’ to boost industry

President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner in the Rose Garden of the White House on September 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

He posted on social media that "we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD, and we can do that..."

President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he plans to create an "AI Force" and appoint a czar to boost artificial-intelligence companies. "We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry. Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows! However, we will also be looking for BAD, and we can do that, very easily, with our already existing Criminal and Civil Justice System. For this purpose, I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term. To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI 'Czar' — Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday morning.

Trump blamed “Radical Left Dumocrats” for widespread concerns about data centers and the potential dangers of unchecked AI development.

The president’s announcement comes after weeks of high-profile warnings from leading tech executives about the potential harms that advanced AI models could cause unless officials step in to regulate the industry. Congressional lawmakers and state leaders have also floated proposals to institute so-called ‘kill switches’ to disable AI systems that go rogue. But Trump and others have pushed back on calls for across-the-board development slowdowns.

David Sacks, who served as the Trump administration's AI and crypto czar until March, shared Trump’s post on X and agreed that a pause on AI development “would not make America safer” and “would hand the frontier to China.”

Trump’s newest proposal is light on details about what role the AI Force would have in overseeing advanced models, or what additional responsibilities it would be handed. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the role of the AI Force or its primary mission.

Michael Kratsios, who heads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, appeared on Fox News Sunday and said that Trump’s post describes “how important it is that we as an administration coordinate in order to make sure that this great technological innovation that’s transforming the country, that’s driving economic growth, continues to do so.”

He added that “these implications of AI spread across so many different agencies, so being able to have someone at the White House to be able to work on all those issues across the agencies is really critical.”

But stakeholders in the space have expressed confusion surrounding what, exactly, the AI Force would do .

“Poll after poll shows the American public is alarmed by recent warnings from AI developers and whistleblowers as well as the rogue AI incidents that took place this summer,” said a spokesperson for AI safety advocacy group Americans for Responsible Innovation. ”There’s pressure on the President to do something, and that’s what this announcement could be designed to address.”

Earlier this month, the Institute for Security and Technology released a survey of current and former national security officials, one-third of whom believe that an AI model will operate outside human control within the next decade.

Philip Reiner, the think tank’s CEO and co-founder, said Trump’s description of the AI Force being like Space Force was “the shape of an answer, but without the substance.”

The service branch, which was established during Trump’s first term and aims to maintain and protect U.S. interests in space, was created through action by Congress, which directed its creation as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

“Space Force works because Congress can give it a doctrine, a budget, a personnel system, but there's no equivalent for AI,” Reiner said. “It's a capability that cuts across every domain.”

He said that the AI Force might be akin to Space Force in terms of Pentagon oversight, saying that “this is more of an actual [Defense Department] lane, is the sense that you get.”

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2026年9月17日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在华盛顿特区白宫玫瑰园的晚宴上发表讲话。（图片来源：Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images）

他在社交媒体上发帖称：“我们会珍惜它，帮助它，守护它，看着它成长！但是，我们也会寻找邪恶，而且我们能做到……”

唐纳德·特朗普总统周末表示，他计划组建一支“人工智能部队”，并任命一位“沙皇”来扶持人工智能公司。“我们绝不会以任何方式阻碍或扼杀这个不可思议的产业的发展。相反，我们将珍视它、帮助它、并监督它的发展！然而，我们也会严惩不贷，而我们现有的刑事和民事司法系统完全可以做到这一点。为此，我正在组建人工智能部队，就像我在第一任期内组建太空部队一样，后者取得了巨大的成功。为此，我将在不久的将来宣布人工智能‘沙皇’的人选——只有高智商人士才有资格申请！”特朗普周六上午在Truth Social网站上发帖写道。

特朗普将人们对数据中心的普遍担忧以及不受控制的人工智能发展可能带来的危险归咎于“激进的左翼民主党人”。

在总统发表声明之前数周，多家科技巨头高管已发出高调警告，指出除非政府介入监管，否则先进的人工智能模型可能造成潜在危害。国会议员和各州领导人也提出了设立所谓“终止开关”的提案，以禁用失控的人工智能系统。但特朗普和其他一些人反对全面放缓人工智能的研发速度。

曾担任特朗普政府人工智能和加密货币事务主管的大卫·萨克斯（David Sacks）在3月份转发了特朗普在X上的帖子，并表示同意暂停人工智能发展“不会让美国更安全”，而且“会将前沿阵地拱手让给中国”。

特朗普的最新提案并未详细说明人工智能部队将在监管高级模型方面扮演何种角色，或将被赋予哪些其他职责。白宫未回应有关人工智能部队的角色或主要任务的置评请求。

白宫科技政策办公室主任迈克尔·克拉齐奥斯周日出现在福克斯新闻节目中，他表示，特朗普的帖子描述了“作为政府，我们协调一致以确保这项正在改变国家、推动经济增长的伟大技术创新能够继续发挥作用是多么重要”。

他还补充说，“人工智能的这些影响波及到许多不同的机构，因此，白宫能够安排一个人来处理所有机构的这些问题至关重要。”

但该领域的利益相关者对人工智能部队究竟会做什么表示困惑。

“民调显示，美国公众对人工智能开发者和举报人近期的警告以及今年夏天发生的几起人工智能安全事故感到担忧，”人工智能安全倡导组织“美国人负责任创新协会”（Americans for Responsible Innovation）的一位发言人表示，“总统面临着采取行动的压力，而这项声明可能正是为了应对这种压力。”

本月初，安全与技术研究所发布了一项针对现任和前任国家安全官员的调查，其中三分之一的人认为，人工智能模型将在未来十年内脱离人类控制而运行。

该智库的首席执行官兼联合创始人菲利普·雷纳表示，特朗普将人工智能部队比作太空部队的说法“只是给出了一个答案，却没有实质内容”。

该军种是在特朗普第一任期内成立的，旨在维护和保护美国在太空的利益。它是国会通过《2020 年国防授权法案》授权成立的。

“太空军之所以能运作，是因为国会可以为其制定作战理论、预算和人事制度，但人工智能却没有类似的机制，”雷纳说。“人工智能是一项可以跨越所有领域的技能。”

他表示，人工智能部队在五角大楼的监督下可能类似于太空部队，并说“这更像是国防部的一个实际领域，你会感觉到的就是这一点”。

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