Trump dismisses fears of AI extinction

U.S. President Donald Trump is not worried that artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to the extinction of humanity, but fears that the United States could find itself in a “very bad position” if it fails to take the lead in the race to develop the sector. His comments came despite warnings from researchers at Anthropic that the rapid evolution of AI could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future, Reuters reported.

Asked by reporters Thursday at an airport in Dallas whether he was concerned that artificial intelligence could lead to the extinction of humanity, Donald Trump replied: “No, I have no such concerns.”

The White House leader said he was instead worried that the United States could be in a “very bad position” if it failed to get ahead in the race to develop artificial intelligence.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of U.S. lawmakers are calling for new regulations on AI systems following serious warnings from two researchers at Anthropic, who said that the technology’s rapid development could lead to the extinction of the human race in the not-too-distant future, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

This week, Jacob Coxon, a researcher at Anthropic, announced that he was resigning, saying that “people developing AI strongly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Evan Hubinger, another researcher at the company, backed Coxon’s claims. “We really do believe AI could kill all humans,” Hubinger wrote on X. “Personally, I think the probability is above 10% over the next decade.”

The warnings come amid recent incidents in which AI agents have acted uncontrollably, attempting to hack external systems, as well as the resignations of several AI safety researchers concerned about the risks associated with the technology.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the United States have expressed concern and called for concrete measures.

“Washington needs to wake up and take this issue seriously,” Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona said on X, referring to the risks posed by AI technology.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who chairs a Senate committee overseeing the U.S. Department of Commerce, where AI safety researchers work, also spoke on the talk show “The View” about the need for legislation addressing the “catastrophic risks” associated with artificial intelligence.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, meanwhile called on House Speaker Mike Johnson in a post on X to convene a “special session on AI.” The House of Representatives is in recess this week and is scheduled to resume its work next week.

A spokesperson for Anthropic—which is preparing for a stock market listing at a valuation estimated by some investors at $2 trillion, according to Reuters—said Thursday that the company would continue to rigorously test “models or dangerous capabilities in areas such as cybersecurity and biology.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees at a meeting held this week that the company is open to the idea of slowing down the development of its artificial intelligence systems, according to Bloomberg News.

Anthropic’s competitor, which is also preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), did not comment on the meeting. Earlier this week, OpenAI announced that it supports the implementation of mandatory national AI safety requirements in the United States.

Reuters also cited two AI safety specialists who expressed concern about the sector’s rapid development.

Josh Engels, a former AI safety researcher at Google DeepMind, warned in an interview with NBC published Thursday that “there is no adult in the room.” “People are doing everything they can, but nobody is coming to save us.”

Joe Benton, who previously led a safety research team at Anthropic, told NBC that he was concerned AI could advance “too quickly for us to organize in time, unless we start taking this seriously right now.”

Both researchers joined the non-profit research organization METR, which evaluates whether and when AI systems could pose a threat to society.

Concerns about AI have put pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who are working on legislation to regulate AI-powered products. According to Klobuchar, the legislation should require companies developing AI tools to “work with government experts to check and test the models, ensuring that AI is safe.” Thune told Reuters in July that the bill is aimed at addressing the “catastrophic risks” posed by AI systems.

On Wednesday, California passed the first state law establishing rules governing how independent auditors evaluate AI-powered products. OpenAI official Chris Lehane said the organization would support the legislation, almost at the same time that California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announced that he had signed the bill into law.

In July, a bipartisan group of six members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation that would require developers of the most powerful AI models to subject them to independent security audits. Under the proposed law, auditors would be accredited by the U.S. Department of Commerce, while the department would create a new position responsible for overseeing AI safety.

“It is important to have a framework for overseeing these systems, including appropriate pre-release evaluations and independent third-party audits,” concluded Alicia Solow-Niederman, a professor of technology law at George Washington University.

Photo: White House