President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. will reject what he called a “globalist scheme” to control artificial intelligence (AI) and emphasized the importance of the U.S. winning the race in emerging tech.
The president made the remarks in an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
“The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much now,” Trump said, adding that he thinks AI should be referred to instead as “superintelligence” (SI).
“Whoever wins AI, you have to remember this, and now I say whoever wins SI, whoever wins superintelligence, wins. That’s the group that wins,” Trump said. “We’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. We’re going to keep it that way. We’re going to keep it very straight and very strong.”
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“I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, many say bigger than the industrial revolution or the internet itself,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. “will be very careful” and the Department of Justice will help oversee the industry.
“We will only encourage superintelligence. We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in. We’re going to watch it closely through the Department of Justice,” Trump said.
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“The United States leads the world in superintelligence and will continue to do so safely and responsibly. Americans have never been a nation that retreats from a frontier or shrinks from a challenge, no matter how great or how daunting that challenge may be,” Trump said.
The president’s comes ahead of a highly-anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week, in which the two geopolitical rivals are expected to discuss AI issues.
The president will also host a state dinner for Xi, which is expected to have tech leaders including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook in attendance.
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FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will present Trump with an AI-related agreement between the U.S. and China to create a “hotline” for direct communication on AI, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The hotline would give the two sides the ability to communicate about any AI-related problems that arise related to hacking, national security concerns, rogue AI or other issues, and would function similar to lines of communication maintained by the two countries’ militaries.
The sources told Lawrence that Trump will make a determination about the hotline this week before he meets with Xi.
The White House has indicated that Trump plans to greet Xi on Wednesday at Joint Base Andrews before spending time with him on Thursday and Friday.
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