President Donald Trump on Monday rejected calls to slow the development of artificial intelligence, arguing that the United States already has the tools needed to address potential risks and cannot afford to give China an advantage in the technology race.

Trump said on Truth Social that the United States has “tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power” over AI companies and declared that “there is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one who is happy about it is China.”

Truth Social
Credit: Truth Social

Trump also singled out Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who called over the weekend for the AI industry to deliberately pace the development of increasingly powerful models. Trump said his administration had already stopped AI companies from engaging in “bad, or potentially bad” activity and accused Amodei of now “pretending to be a ‘perfect little angel.’”

Amodei's proposal came after growing warnings about the potential risks posed by rapidly advancing AI systems. His three-part framework calls for companies to make commitments to outside safety evaluators, democratic nations to establish common standards and broader international cooperation on AI safety. Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have also backed calls for slowing the pace of development.

Amodei has also argued that the United States needs to maintain its technological advantage over China. He called for continued restrictions on the sale of advanced AI chips and chipmaking equipment to China, warning that a Chinese lead in AI could pose a serious threat to the United States and the broader world.

China pushed back Monday. China's Foreign Ministry said countries should cooperate on AI development, while the state-backed Global Times accused Amodei of using safety concerns to promote restrictions designed to hold back China's technology industry. The newspaper described his approach as a “Cold War playbook” and accused Washington of seeking to maintain technological dominance.

The dispute comes as Washington and Beijing compete for leadership in artificial intelligence, with Trump expected to discuss AI governance with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a planned September 24 meeting.