- President Trump dismisses AI threat, prioritizing US tech lead.
- Researcher Jacob Coxon warns about self-improving AI catastrophic risks.
- OpenAI considers slowing development amid growing internal safety fears.
US President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns that increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems could pose an existential threat to humanity, saying his priority is ensuring the United States maintains its lead over China in the rapidly developing technology. Asked whether AI itself was a source of concern, Trump rejected the idea, instead pointing to the geopolitical consequences of falling behind Beijing.
Trump said, as per reports, “No, I don’t have any. I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position.”
Trump also offered his assessment of the current US-China technology race, saying Washington had a significant advantage.
“We are leading China right now by a pretty good period. I would say a year, which is, you know, considered a lot,” he said.
His remarks come as warnings from AI researchers and safety advocates have intensified over the risks posed by systems that could eventually operate with increasingly limited human supervision.
Researcher Warns Of AI Risks
The debate has gained fresh attention following the departure of Jacob Coxon, who previously worked as a researcher at Anthropic and OpenAI.
Coxon left Anthropic this week and subsequently raised concerns about the direction of AI development. He criticised what he described as an increasingly aggressive push towards autonomous and self-improving systems, arguing that the potential consequences could extend far beyond conventional technology risks.
In a post on X, Coxon said companies were moving rapidly towards developing “self-improving” AI models that could potentially advance without substantial human oversight.
“They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” he wrote.
Coxon also urged people not to underestimate what advanced AI could eventually accomplish. “Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources,” he said.
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Warning Of Decade-End Threat
Coxon subsequently made an even more stark assessment of the potential consequences of advanced AI, saying fears about catastrophic outcomes extend to people working within the industry itself.
“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade,” he said.
His concerns received support from at least one current Anthropic employee. Evan Hubinger echoed the warning on X, writing, “I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.”
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OpenAI Weighs Development Pace
AI industry leaders have also been paying attention to the debate over the risks associated with increasingly advanced models.
People familiar with private discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees this week that the company was considering whether to slow development of its most advanced models.
According to those people, Altman also expressed hope that competing AI companies would consider taking similar steps.
The developments have brought AI safety concerns back into wider public debate, particularly as companies race to build increasingly capable systems and governments consider the strategic implications of the technology.
