Trump rejects AI safeguards as industry debate intensifies

US President Donald Trump has rejected calls for stronger safeguards on artificial intelligence, describing concerns about the technology’s safety as a “hoax” and a “SICK conspiracy”.

In social media posts reported by the BBC, Trump argued that AI needed a “strong and smart” president rather than additional guardrails. He also warned that the country that wins the AI race would prevail, while accusing China of benefiting from calls for restraint.

The comments followed a proposal from Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark that lawmakers might require AI companies to maintain a mechanism capable of shutting down dangerous systems. Clark said the mechanism should be subject to third-party checks, and that most major laboratories already had ways to “pull the plug”.

The proposal comes as warnings from researchers and technology executives have intensified debate over the pace of AI development and the need for regulation. Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger has personally assessed the possibility of AI causing human extinction within the next decade at more than 10 per cent, though the figure is not an established forecast.

Other industry figures have backed slower development, regulation or independent monitoring. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and xAI chief executive Elon Musk have supported elements of that approach, while Microsoft AI has published guidance on what it calls “humanist AI”.

The debate was also linked to a reported selloff in some technology shares as investors considered the possibility of slower AI development. Chinese state media said US calls for restraint could reflect concern about China’s progress, but the supplied reporting does not establish that Trump’s remarks amount to a formal policy decision or that a mandatory shutdown system has been adopted.