Trump Rejects Calls to Slow AI Development, Insisting “Whoever Wins AI Wins”

President Donald Trump has rejected calls from leading artificial intelligence executives to slow the pace of AI development, arguing that the United States must maintain its lead over China

Trump said concerns about catastrophic AI risks are being overstated by negative forces.

Speaking to reporters at his Doonbeg golf resort in Ireland while attending the Irish Open, Trump said the U.S. remains the most advanced nation in AI and intends to keep it that way.

He said,

"Look, 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. We can put guardrails. We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up, and they're bringing up things that won't happen.

"But whoever wins with AI wins. It's an expression that I came up with, and it's true. Later that day, when asked if he was downplaying the risks, he said, "I'm not downplaying that AI is going to be more good than bad, but by a lot."???????????????????????????????????????????????

His comment comes after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raised concerns that the technology may be advancing faster than society's ability to manage its risks.

Anthropic CEO Amodei recently published a lengthy essay titled "We Must Pace the Frontier," in which he argued that the industry must deliberately slow the rate at which AI model capabilities improve.

Amodei cited accelerating progress, including AI systems helping to build the next generation of AI (known as recursive self-improvement), and warned of growing risks that safety measures might not keep pace.

He outlined a three-step plan beginning with independent evaluators gaining deep access inside companies, followed by industry agreements on standards among democratic nations, and ultimately broader international coordination that would include China.

OpenAI subsequently said it had temporarily slowed the pace of scaling as it worked to strengthen monitoring, alignment and containment safeguards for more capable models. The company cited the Hugging Face incident, along with evidence that one of its upcoming models could reach a critical cybersecurity capability threshold, as reasons for increasing the urgency of its safety work.

Other voices in the industry and research community have raised similar alarms in recent days, including former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who expressed deep concerns about the trajectory of the technology.

The concerns reflect a growing dilemma within the AI industry. Companies are competing intensely to build more powerful systems, while simultaneously acknowledging that moving too quickly could introduce risks that neither companies nor governments are prepared to handle.

A slowdown that is not coordinated across the industry could also place individual companies at a competitive disadvantage, particularly amid geopolitical competition over AI leadership

Trump's remarks align with his administration's broader preference for accelerating AI progress rather than imposing heavy restrictions. He has previously rescinded earlier regulatory frameworks and emphasized economic and strategic benefits from rapid advancement.

Later when asked whether he was downplaying risks, Trump said he was not, adding that AI "is going to be more good than bad, but by a lot," while repeating that the nation that leads in the technology will hold a decisive advantage.

The exchange highlights a growing tension between industry leaders who now favor deliberate pacing for safety reasons and a political approach centered on geopolitical competition with China.

AI remains a likely topic of discussion in upcoming high-level talks, including a planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Outlook

The divide over the pace of AI development is likely to become more pronounced as the United States and China intensify their competition for technological leadership.

While industry executives increasingly argue that frontier AI development should be paced to give safety systems, regulators, and society time to catch up, policymakers focused on national competitiveness may remain reluctant to impose restrictions that could slow American companies.