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Former President Donald Trump pushed back against reports that he is downplaying the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) after industry leaders called for slowing down the development of the technology over the weekend.
"This week, again, there’s been so much concern about AI. Have you heard directly from any of these AI tech leaders? And you seemed to downplay some of the concerns that we’ve heard," a reporter asked the president on Sunday aboard Air Force One.
"No, I’m not downplaying," Trump interjected. "But it’s going to be more good than bad, by a lot."
Earlier in the day, while attending a golf tournament in Ireland, Trump was asked about the possibility of slowing down AI development or increasing regulation. "Well, I’ll say this: 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," he stated.
He added, "And we can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but, I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen."
On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei argued that AI development needs to slow down to allow for the implementation of necessary risk prevention safeguards, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire Elon Musk supporting him. "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models," Amodei wrote in a blog post. "Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain."
Amodei recommended that AI companies quickly undertake measures aimed at "pacing" the development of models and warned of potentially grim consequences if the technology does not have brakes. "To be clear, pacing does not mean halting model training or technical progress, but ensuring companies take adequate time to align and safeguard their models, and for third-party evaluators to confirm this," he continued. "Our pacing framework is an attempt to further strengthen our commitment to safety and encourage a race to the top."
The conversation also comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle push for more briefings and safeguards around the technology. However, some, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), have urged others not to panic.