Obama Is Urging Democrats To Develop A Clear AI Agenda As Trump Rejects Growing Safety Warnings And China Calls Slowdown Efforts “Fearmongering”
The debate over how — or whether — to slow artificial intelligence development is rapidly moving beyond Silicon Valley, with former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump and the Chinese government offering starkly different views as researchers and technology executives warn that AI development may be moving faster than safety measures can keep up.
Obama has urged Democrats to develop a “very clear plan” for artificial intelligence, arguing that the technology could bring significant benefits but also poses economic, safety and societal risks that government cannot afford to ignore.
Trump has moved firmly in the opposite direction, dismissing mounting warnings about AI as a “hoax” and arguing that slowing American development could allow China to overtake the United States.
Beijing, meanwhile, has rejected calls from U.S. technology leaders to slow development, accusing them of “fearmongering” and describing proposals aimed at limiting China’s access to advanced AI technology as part of a “Cold War playbook.”
Obama Urges Democrats To Build An AI Plan
Speaking Thursday during a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Obama said artificial intelligence would be one of his central issues if he were preparing to run for president.
“If I were running for president next year, this would be one of my central agendas,” Obama said, according to a transcript of his remarks. He said a policy should address AI safety, children and the possibility that automation could displace workers.
Obama also urged Jeffries to establish a broader public discussion around the technology.
“This is something that is moving very fast in private hands, and if we don’t get on top of it, I think can be dangerous,” Obama said.
At the same time, Obama cautioned against treating AI solely as a threat. He said the technology could accelerate drug development, help researchers cure diseases and contribute to clean-energy advances if it is managed properly.
Related: AI Safety Warnings Grow as Anthropic CEO Calls for Industry Slowdown
His comments come as some of the people building the world’s most advanced AI systems have begun publicly questioning whether development is moving too quickly.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called this weekend for companies to deliberately slow the advancement of their most powerful systems, arguing that safety research is struggling to keep pace.
Amodei proposed giving independent evaluators continuing access to frontier AI companies, developing common safety standards among companies and eventually seeking international coordination.
“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models,” Amodei wrote.
He stressed that slowing development would not mean stopping AI research but creating more time for safety systems, outside evaluation and public policy to catch up.
Trump Calls AI Fears A ‘Hoax’
Trump has rejected that approach.
In a series of Truth Social posts Monday, the president dismissed concerns that advanced artificial intelligence could eventually become uncontrollable and rejected calls for additional guardrails.
Trump wrote that the only safeguard needed was “a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT,” while arguing that his administration already possesses significant criminal and regulatory authority over AI companies.
He also accused critics of AI expansion of participating in what he called a “SICK conspiracy” against artificial intelligence and the massive data centers needed to power it.
“WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” Trump wrote, tying the safety debate directly to competition with China.
Later Monday, Trump went further, declaring fears of AI “taking over the World, destroying Humanity” a “HOAX.” He predicted instead that artificial intelligence could become “the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History.”
Trump had delivered a similar message Sunday while speaking to reporters in Ireland.
“We’re leading China in AI,” Trump said. “We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins.”
The president’s position puts him at odds not only with some Democrats but with several major figures inside the technology industry.
Amodei has called for slowing frontier development, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk have expressed support for greater attention to the risks surrounding increasingly powerful AI systems.
China Rejects U.S. Calls To Slow AI
China is also resisting the emerging slowdown campaign, although Beijing has acknowledged that AI creates its own security concerns.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticized the growing warnings Monday, saying confrontation and “fearmongering” would interfere with global cooperation on artificial intelligence.
China’s state-run Global Times went further, characterizing proposals targeting China’s access to advanced chips and technology as a “Cold War playbook.”
The reaction came after Amodei argued that the United States should restrict sales of powerful AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China while cracking down on efforts by Chinese companies to reproduce capabilities from leading American models.
Despite rejecting American proposals, Chinese officials have not dismissed AI security risks entirely.
Chinese State Security Minister Chen Yixin has called for China to accelerate systems designed to prevent and control AI security threats while increasing international cooperation.
That creates an unusual divide in the emerging global debate: Washington and Beijing remain locked in a competition for AI leadership, even as officials and technology executives on both sides acknowledge that increasingly capable systems could carry serious risks.
Amodei has compared parts of the challenge to the Cold War arms race, arguing that meaningful safeguards would eventually require some form of international coordination.
But he also acknowledged the fundamental problem facing such an agreement: neither the United States nor China is likely to voluntarily slow down if leaders believe the other side will continue racing ahead.
That tension is increasingly defining the AI debate.
Obama is calling for a political framework to manage the technology. Trump is arguing that maintaining America’s lead over China should take priority over warnings about slowing development. China is rejecting U.S.-backed restrictions while developing its own approach to AI security.
And the executives building the technology are increasingly warning that governments may soon have less time to decide what comes next.
