Rabat – US President Donald Trump has announced plans to create an “AI Force” and appoint an artificial intelligence czar as concerns over the technology’s risks continue to grow.
Trump said Saturday that his administration would support the expansion of the AI industry and reject efforts to slow its development over safety concerns.
“We will not in any way hinder or stifle the growth” of the industry, Trump said in a social media post.
He did not provide details about the proposed force or say when he would appoint an AI czar.
Trump portrayed artificial intelligence as a technological shift with an economic impact that could surpass previous major innovations.
“AI is the next Industrial Revolution, or Internet, but will be even larger and more impactful,” he said, adding that the technology could eventually account for as much as 25% of US gross domestic product.
He also stressed the importance of keeping the US ahead of China in the race to develop advanced AI systems.
AI and US-China rivalry
Artificial intelligence has become a central area of competition between Washington and Beijing, with both countries seeking an advantage in advanced technology.
The issue could also feature in talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as the two leaders address broader areas of US-China competition.
Trump said his administration would rely on existing criminal and civil laws to deal with people who use AI for illegal purposes.
At the same time, he dismissed broader warnings about the technology as a “hoax.”
The remarks come after a series of warnings from AI researchers and industry figures about the potential consequences of increasingly powerful systems.
Some researchers have warned that advanced AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. One has estimated a more than 10% chance that the technology could ultimately “kill all humans.”
Major AI companies are racing to develop increasingly capable systems, including technologies that could eventually outperform humans across a broad range of tasks.
Tech giants face pressure over AI safety
The rapid development of AI has also raised questions about whether companies can prevent their systems from causing harm or falling into the wrong hands.
Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, the companies behind Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, respectively, have disclosed security incidents and cases in which their AI tools were used for malicious purposes.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for a slower pace of AI development and proposed stronger industry-wide safeguards, regulation, and independent oversight of advanced AI models.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI CEO Elon Musk have expressed support for some of those proposals.
Jack Clark, Anthropic’s co-founder, told the BBC that governments could eventually require AI companies to maintain a “kill switch” that an independent third party could verify and activate if necessary.
The growing concerns have also reached US lawmakers, who have proposed legislation to address different aspects of AI development and use.
Altman said this week that Washington has struggled to keep pace with the technology.
He argued that AI companies should receive greater public trust as they work to develop increasingly powerful systems.
“The world should trust that we are going to do the right thing because it’s the right thing and we feel the magnitude of this,” Altman said at a conference in San Francisco.
UK lawmakers raise human rights concerns
The debate has also gained momentum in the UK, where lawmakers from several political parties have warned about the potential impact of AI on human rights.
The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights said existing laws are not sufficient to address the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The committee has called for new legislation to address what it described as the “scale and seriousness” of the threats associated with AI.
The developments reflect a widening debate over how governments can protect the public from the risks of advanced AI without limiting the technology’s economic and scientific potential.
