Trump doubles down on AI race, takes aim at Anthropic CEO over slowdown call

The race to build ever more powerful artificial intelligence is running into a growing push from some of the industry's biggest names to slow down and put stronger safety measures in place before the technology advances further.

US President Donald Trump, however, is pushing back against that caution. He said on Monday that Washington already has the criminal and regulatory powers needed to rein in AI companies, dismissing concerns over the need for additional "guardrails" as the industry debates how fast frontier AI should develop.

In a post on Truth Social, the Republican leader dismissed concerns about the need for additional safeguards and suggested that the biggest protection for AI is strong presidential leadership. His comments came as some of the industry's most prominent executives have begun calling for a more cautious approach to the race to develop advanced AI.

"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the USA has that, in spades!" Trump wrote.

He also argued that Washington already has extensive powers to hold AI companies accountable, while accusing critics of the technology of helping China by casting doubt on the US AI industry.

"We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China."

The comments sharpen an emerging divide between the Trump administration's push to maintain US dominance in AI and a growing group of technology leaders who say the industry needs to slow down enough to ensure safety measures can keep pace.AI INDUSTRY PUSHES FOR A MORE CAUTIOUS APPROACH

Concerns over the risks of advanced AI have intensified in recent days following warnings from researchers at Anthropic that increasingly capable systems could eventually pose an existential threat to humanity.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei subsequently called for the industry to "pace" the development of frontier AI, arguing that progress is accelerating so quickly that companies and governments could struggle to understand or control the systems they are building.

Amodei proposed a three-step framework aimed at slowing the pace of development while giving researchers more time to address emerging risks. His proposal quickly gained backing from other major figures in the industry, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who leads xAI.TRUMP SAYS HIS ADMINISTRATION ALREADY ACTED

Trump asserted that his administration has already intervened when AI companies or executives have engaged in conduct it considers problematic.

"The Trump Administration has stopped AI 'people' from doing bad, or potentially bad, 'things,' like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a 'perfect little angel' - and we will continue to do so," Trump said.

His latest comments follow earlier remarks in which he rejected the idea that frontier AI development should be slowed or subjected to extensive new regulation. Trump has repeatedly framed the AI race as a competition between the US and China, arguing that American leadership in the technology will have consequences far beyond the technology sector.

"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," Trump previously told reporters.

Although Trump admitted that safeguards could be introduced, he questioned whether many of the warnings being raised about AI were justified.

"We could put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of very negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up and they're bringing up things that won't happen," he said.THE FIGHT OVER HOW FAST AI SHOULD MOVE

The disagreement is increasingly centred not on whether AI should continue developing, but on how quickly frontier systems should become more capable.

Amodei has warned that AI companies are entering a cycle in which increasingly capable systems can help build the next generation of AI. That could accelerate progress further and make it harder for humans to understand what advanced systems are capable of before deploying them at scale.

"We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain," Amodei wrote.

He has also pointed to incidents involving AI agents carrying out cyberattacks beyond the scope of their assigned tasks as evidence that safety risks are no longer merely theoretical.

Amodei's proposal includes independent safety evaluators with access to AI companies, greater coordination among leading laboratories and stronger international cooperation.

The proposal does not call for an outright halt to AI development. Instead, it seeks to create more time for companies and governments to build systems capable of monitoring increasingly autonomous and powerful models.

Musk backed the approach in a brief response, writing, "Dario is right." Altman similarly said, "I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier," and indicated that OpenAI would adopt independent evaluators with employee-like access.

Trump's latest remarks make clear where he stands: he sees maintaining America's AI lead as a strategic priority and believes existing criminal and regulatory powers are sufficient to address misconduct.- EndsPublished By: Satyam SinghPublished On: Sep 14, 2026 20:31 IST