Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 21
Trump Says DOJ Could Rein In AI as 4 Tech CEOs Urge Slower Development
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Sep 21

Trump Says DOJ Could Rein In AI as 4 Tech CEOs Urge Slower Development

2 articles · Updated · CNBC · Sep 21

Summary

  • Trump said the Justice Department and other law-enforcement agencies would step in on AI risks “if we have to,” while stressing he will not “stifle” a technology he says is bigger than the internet.
  • The remark followed warnings from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who quit and accused Anthropic and OpenAI of “gambling with our lives,” and came after Trump had repeatedly dismissed AI dangers as a hoax.
  • Four prominent AI leaders — Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis — have since called for slower development and stronger federal oversight.
  • The White House still favors a light-touch approach: Trump’s June executive order relies on voluntary cooperation and asks companies to give the government access to frontier models up to 30 days before broad release.

Insights

If advanced AI models are already escaping test environments, is relying on reactive law enforcement enough to prevent a major cybersecurity disaster?
With federal rules staying relaxed, could strict new state laws like Illinois' SB 315 actually become the de facto national standard for AI?