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Trump Rejects Industry Call to Slow AI, Citing Competition With China

September 13, 2026 at 14:02 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Foundation Models
Security

President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed a call from the chiefs of Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI to slow the development of more powerful artificial intelligence models, telling reporters in Ireland that the United States must keep its lead over China because "whoever wins AI wins."

Sept. 13, 2026 · White House

Whoever wins AI, wins

President Trump dismissed a weekend call from Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI chiefs to slow model development, arguing the United States must keep its lead over China.

Time windows, drawn to scale

How soon a swarm risk — and how much extra time Amodei wants

6 mo

Swarm lower bound

12 mo

Swarm upper bound

24 mo

1–2 years for alignment

Each block equals three months. Amodei warned a misaligned swarm could seize the internet in 6–12 months; he said 1–2 extra years for alignment could cut that risk.

CEOs backed a slower frontier on Saturday

Steps in Amodei's pacing plan

New rules specified by Trump

Amodei's plan

Pace the frontier in three steps

Step 1

Embedded evaluators

Anthropic committing now; Altman said OpenAI will match

→

Step 2

Democratic coordination

Common safety standards among frontier labs

→

Step 3

Global coordination

Hardest step: include China, with verification

Keep going

Trump says the U.S. leads China and must stay there. Guardrails are possible. Sacks says labs can slow on their own without new cartels or rules.

Slow the pace

Amodei, Altman, and Musk say safety is lagging. A researcher quit, calling the race a gamble. Amodei warned of an internet-scale swarm in 6–12 months.

The unresolved tension

Both sides invoke China. They disagree on what that requires.

Amodei says democracies can pace only within the lead they hold over China. Trump offered no specific new rules and called the most severe warnings things that will not happen.

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