Trump Announces AI Force After Rejecting Calls to Slow AI Development
Trump said the new group would support AI growth while using existing civil and criminal laws to address wrongdoing involving the technology
President Donald Trump said he is forming a new government body, AI Force, and will appoint a new AI “czar” after a former AI researcher, lawmakers, and industry executives called for slower development and stronger safeguards.
Coxon warning led to calls for action
Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from Anthropic on Sept. 8 and warned that companies were building increasingly powerful AI systems faster than they could understand or control them.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) responded by calling for greater government intervention.
Separately, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for leading developers to slow improvements to their most powerful models so safety testing and monitoring could keep pace. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly supported slowing that work, as did Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceXAI, and Demis Hassabis, Chairman of Google’s DeepMind.
Trump rejected the proposed slowdown, arguing that it would weaken the United States in its AI competition with China. He announced his AI Force several days later.
Trump points to existing laws, not new AI rules
In his Sept. 19 Truth Social post, Trump said his administration would support AI development while watching for harmful conduct. He said the existing civil and criminal justice laws could address wrongdoing.
The President compared the planned AI Force to the Space Force created during his first term but did not explain what the new group would be empowered to do. He also did not identify its members or say whether it would operate through the White House or an existing federal agency.
Trump said he would announce an AI czar soon.