President Donald Trump spent Monday defending artificial intelligence development on social media. He called growing safety concerns a "hoax" in a series of posts on Truth Social.
Trump specifically criticized Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Amodei published an essay Saturday titled "We Must Pace the Frontier," asking AI companies to slow down their work.
Trump wrote that Amodei was "pretending to be a perfect little angel." He said his administration already holds "tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power" over AI companies.
The president also claimed there is a "sick conspiracy" against AI and data centers. He said only China benefits from that opposition.
Amodei is not the only industry figure raising concerns. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned last week and warned that AI could "kill us all by the end of the decade."
Anthropic researcher Evan Hubinger backed Coxon's warning on social media. He wrote that people at the company "earnestly believe AI could kill all humans."
Industry Leaders Split on Slowing Down
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said over the weekend they support pacing AI development. Altman also said OpenAI would adopt one of the safety measures Amodei proposed.
Reports say Altman met privately with Trump at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last week. That meeting came after Coxon's resignation post went viral online.
White House AI advisor David Sacks pushed back on the warnings. He said companies calling for a slowdown face legal risk if their products enable cyberattacks.
Sacks also said China is unlikely to agree to any global AI regulation.
Public opinion on AI leans cautious. An NBC News Decision Desk poll found that 70% of adults are more worried about AI than excited about it.
The same poll found 69% of adults oppose new AI data centers in their area, including 57% of Republican voters.
Lawmakers React to AI Concerns
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for a briefing with administration officials on AI safety. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects Trump to meet with AI leaders soon.
A source told NBC News that a meeting between Trump and AI executives is being planned, though no date has been set.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said he supports AI development but understands the case for regulation. He said lawmakers should listen when industry leaders themselves ask for caution.
Not all Republicans agree new rules are needed soon. Senator John Kennedy said Congress will not pass AI legislation until after the November midterms.
Former President Barack Obama called the industry's calls for slower development a "good and necessary first step." He said voluntary standards from companies are not enough on their own.
Vice President JD Vance said the administration takes the warnings seriously but wants to "regulate smartly." He compared the requests for regulation to a "Trojan horse."
China's government dismissed the AI warnings as "fearmongering" on Monday. Trump has repeatedly said the United States is ahead of China in AI development and intends to stay there.
