‘Sick Conspiracy’: Trump Fumes at AI Boss
News.com.au
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- Date Published
- 15 Sept 2026
- Priority Score
- 4
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 15 Sept 2026, 08:00 am
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Donald Trump has blasted Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for urging AI firms to pace development, alleging the safety warnings are part of a “conspiracy” that could help China.
Summary
The article reports on a significant political backlash against AI safety initiatives, with Donald Trump characterizing Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's calls for development 'guardrails' as a conspiracy benefiting China. This conflict highlights a growing tension between existential risk mitigation efforts—such as Amodei's three-step safety plan—and nationalistic 'AI arms race' narratives that prioritize rapid capability advancement over safety. The text also notes recent high-profile warnings from researchers regarding AI's potential to cause human extinction by the end of the decade, illustrating the polarized nature of current global AI governance discourse.
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Donald Trump blasts AI boss, alleges safety warnings are ‘conspiracy’ to help ChinaDonald Trump has blasted an AI giant CEO and said calls for AI “guardrails” were part of a “conspiracy” that only benefits China.Taylor Herzlich – New York Post3 min readSeptember 15, 2026 - 4:06AMDonald Trump has blasted Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for urging AI firms to pace development, alleging the safety warnings are part of a “conspiracy” that could help China.He also said no further regulation was needed because the US “a high IQ President” in himself, reports the New York Post.In a Truth Social post on Monday morning, UA time, the US President doubled down on his dismissal of safety concerns, writing: “The Trump Administration has stopped AI ‘people’ from doing bad, or potentially bad, ‘things,’ like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel’ – and we will continue to do so!”“We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centres, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One from Shannon, Ireland on Sunday, September 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)“Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!”No extra guardrails should be put in place, said Mr Trump, because all that was needed was “a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”Others you may likenewsnewsPublic sentiment toward data centres and artificial intelligence has been souring for months, but safety concerns took centre stage over the weekend after Mr Amodei published a lengthy essay urging global tech giants to slow their development of AI models.OpenAI boss Sam Altman and SpaceX founder Elon Musk backed Mr Amodei’s three-step plan to add guardrails to the rapidly progressing technology, which requires co-operation from AI rivals around the world.It comes after AI researcher Jacob Coxon, who previously worked at Anthropic and OpenAI, last week quit his job and warned that AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade” in a post on X that has racked up more than 171 million views.But the Trump administration has positioned itself as a friendly one toward the AI industry. An executive order signed by the president in June encouraged a hands-off approach to AI regulation.Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)So far in Mr Trump’s second term, AI spending has helped prop up the economy. The Federal Reserve – which is largely expected to hike interest rates this week – has repeatedly mentioned massive AI capital expenditures as a highlight of the economy at meetings.Meanwhile, Mr Amodei’s firm has a history of battling with the Trump administration over AI safety risks. The Department of Defence labelled Anthropic a supply-chain risk – a harsh designation often reserved for foreign companies – after the firm refused to allow the Pentagon unfettered access to its AI tools for surveillance or military capabilities. Meanwhile, Mr Trump is gearing up for a September 24 visit to the US by Chinese President Xi Jinping. A key part of Mr Amodei’s safety plan is global co-operation between top tech companies, fostered by the US government – but Chinese leaders have already signalled they are unwilling to give up control over their work on AI models.Open AI CEO Sam Altman. (Photo by Matt RAMEY / AFP)“Fear mongering, confrontation, competition will just disrupt [the] process of global AI governance,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said Monday, according to a translation by Reuters.An editorial by the state-backed newspaper Global Times compared calls for China to slow its AI advancements to a “Cold War” tactic.At a summit in New Delhi over the weekend, President Xi Jinping said China will take the lead when it comes to fostering global AI collaboration among developing countries.In his essay, Mr Amodei predicted that foreign rivals may not be willing to co-ordinate on the pacing of AI development.“I think that’s going to be very difficult because the incentives to pull ahead and the military advantage that you get from that are so large. And honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible, but we should try,” Mr Amodei told US broadcaster CBS News.This article was first published in The New York Post and is reproduced with permission.Read related topics:ChinaDonald TrumpMore related storiesMilitaryADF’s huge milestone after 9/11 anniversaryAustralia’s Defence Force has surged past a major milestone just days after marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.Read moreInnovationExplosive report reveals new AI nightmareAn AI CEO’s comments about extinction stole the limelight this week, but there was another equally troublesome event going down behind the scenes.Read moreInnovation‘Very bad’: AI CEO’s major callThe CEO of Anthropic has issued a statement after a former employee warned AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade”.Read more