LONDON – Trump downplays artificial intelligence risks

LONDON, September 14 /ATSH-DPA/ – US President Donald Trump has downplayed the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), saying “negative forces” are raising concerns about things that will not happen.

His statement comes at a time when tech industry leaders are calling for a slowdown in AI development.

Dario Amodei, head of Anthropic, the company developing the virtual assistant Claude, said artificial intelligence is advancing “drastically faster” in recent months.

He warned that within six to 12 months, AI could be able to direct a group of autonomous systems that could take control of the entire internet.

Amodei published a three-point plan for developing the technology at a more controlled pace.

His essay, titled “We need to control the pace of development,” is supported by other industry leaders, including Elon Musk and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman.

During his visit to Ireland, Trump declared that the US is ahead of China in developing artificial intelligence. “Honestly, I want it to stay that way, because whoever wins in AI, wins,” the US president said. He added that concerns about risks are being fueled by “negative forces” talking about impossible scenarios.

British Secretary of State for Communities Angela Rayner said she was pleased that AI companies were discussing not only the opportunities but also the threats posed by this technology. She stressed that the United Kingdom has created robust safety systems, including the AI Safety Institute, to benefit from the technology and protect society from its risks.

Meanwhile, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Tom Tugendhat warned that the British government is failing to keep pace with AI developments.

“You can’t legislate against mathematics,” he said, arguing that technological progress requires faster mechanisms to protect society.

In July, OpenAI sent shockwaves through the tech industry after declaring that one of its artificial intelligence systems had autonomously hacked the Hugging Face platform, in what the company described as an unprecedented cyber incident.

Tugendhat said this case showed the various ways in which new and powerful AI system capabilities are emerging.

Amodei proposed that artificial intelligence companies give independent evaluators access to their systems, so they can check safety measures and report incidents.

He said Anthropic was implementing this commitment unilaterally. Sam Altman supported the proposal, declaring that OpenAI would take a similar step.