Trump defends 'super intelligence', points to earlier events to identify those behind AI 'hoax'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is dismissing claims that AI is dangerous or poses an existential threat to humans as he identifies the type of people behind the AI “hoax.”

The controversy around the potential threats of AI deepened after a former Anthropic researcher warned that AI could “kill us all” if not restrained. Anthropic is an artificial intelligence research company that developed the Claude AI assistant.

The tech dilemma transformed into a political battle, with Trump backing the technology boom while Democrats demanded a safety risk framework, as experts have warned that it can go beyond human control.

Trump likens AI warnings to climate change predictions

Trump has recently made several Truth Social posts advocating for the intense pace of the artificial intelligence boom and dismissed warnings as a “hoax,” and has now come up with a fresh argument in favor of AI.

Trump wrote on Monday, September 21, that the same people who once warned that “we’ll all be dead in twelve years” because of global warming are now warning that AI could kill people, robots could attack humans, and everything could become a “DISASTER.”

He also claimed that global warming was later renamed climate change because the planet was cooling instead of warming.

“The same people that said, 'We’ll all be dead in twelve years because of Global Warming', a name since 'reborn' to Climate Change, because the Planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead, are the people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us,” he wrote.

Trump says US leads China in AI

Later in the same post, Trump once again described the warning as a “hoax,” reiterating that America is ahead of China and other countries in the AI race.

“Whoever wins AI, WINS! We are leading now over China, and everyone else, and I’m going to keep it that way,” he wrote.

He further argued that he is not going to let growth be stifled because of the “hoax” warnings. Making a significant prediction, Trump also added that AI will be something bigger than the Industrial Revolution and the internet.

“I’m going to keep it that way! I’m not going to stifle Growth, of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, or the Internet, itself,” Trump added.

Trump concluded his post with the assurance that the Department of Justice and other law enforcement bodies would act if need be, adding, “But I will only encourage AI or, SI (SUPER INTELLIGENCE).”

Ex-Anthropic researcher warns AI 'could kill us all'

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently issued a stark warning about a potential artificial intelligence threat, saying it “could kill us all” if not restrained.

The development of AI "doesn't look that different from, say, 'Terminator', or from science fiction films," he told CBS News. "It really is just, if you have a super advanced intelligence, it could, it will be smart enough to kill us."

Coxon said AI could gain unrestrained control of parts of the physical world without human intervention.

"People are already connecting ChatGPT to, like, say, household utilities," he said. "Like, you can kind of connect it to your light bulb."

"Now, imagine the AI refuses to turn on your light," Coxon added.

AI could also be misused to carry out far more destructive acts, such as developing bioweapons, he said. "It's doing God knows what, and producing stuff that could kill everyone."