Trump and Mike Johnson think the AI industry is overreacting
The Republicans fear slowing down AI development could give China the edge.
The Republicans fear slowing down AI development could give China the edge.
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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge
is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.
Yesterday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy open letter saying it was time to “pace the frontier” and slow down AI development. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk both agreed, publicly voicing their support on X. Even Alphabet’s Demis Hassabis offered tentative support for Amodei’s proposal.
Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, seem to think the AI executives are being overreactive and fear that a pause could lead to China outpacing the US in the AI race. According to the Financial Times, Trump said “Look, we’re leading China in AI ... and, frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI, wins.”
Johnson echoed those sentiments on CNN, telling Jake Tapper that rushing to place restrictions on AI development could be a “national security threat.” He urged people not to panic. “If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try and regulate AI, we will lose the race to China.”
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