Trump doubles down on AI push, speaks to NVIDIA CEO; terms safety concerns 'hoax' as industry leaders unite amid risks

US President Donald Trump has strongly defended rapid AI development, calling safety concerns a “hoax” and stressing the need for the US to beat China. His comments come as AI industry leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, warn of risks from the technology’s rapid growth.

As top leaders from the artificial intelligence (AI) industry back Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei over his recent public acknowledgement of the risks associated with developing the technology at a rapid pace, US President Donald Trump, on the contrary, is mounting a strong defence of AI development.

On Monday, Trump called Jensen Huang, chipmaker NVIDIA's CEO, during a company all-hands meeting and offered a strong defence of AI development after Huang put the call on speakerphone.

Donald Trump backs AI development, calls safety concerns a 'hoax'

Trump told the NVIDIA chief that the US must defeat China in the race for AI innovation and development, and also termed concerns over AI safety a "hoax." He said, "The robots will not be taking over. The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax." He further said that critics are "just playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don’t want to see it happen. That could be political people; that could also be China.”

He also praised data centres, calling them "great" and saying that they make people and states "wealthy." Trump added, "It’s the oil of the next 20, 25 years; it’s bigger than the internet and AI, you know, much more so." However, he did suggest that people will have to be a little careful and do things "prudently."

Trump also asked Huang whether they were on the same page regarding AI development, to which he replied, "We’re going to make sure that everybody wins in the AI race in America. Every industry, every company, every state, every people."

Trump's phone call with Huang to extend support for AI development comes amid industry leaders calling for action to slow down the pace of development.

Swati Gandhi