Fears about AI dangers are becoming a burning issue in the US midterm elections and, after the storm caused by Anthropic CEO's warning of catastrophe if there is no slowdown in race to 'superintelligence,' Trump sharply attacks him and other industry executives calling for regulationU.S. President Donald Trump has bluntly rejected the unusual calls made over the weekend by prominent figures in the artificial intelligence industry to impose restrictions on the accelerated development of AI, in order to ensure that humans can remain in control of these systems and prevent them from causing catastrophic harm to the global economy.Just days before he is scheduled to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday, Trump on Monday evening argued in three separate posts on his social media platform Truth Social that there was no substance to the warnings, which he called a "sick conspiracy." He added that the race against China in the field, and maintaining American supremacy in it, are especially important — signaling that, in his view, restrictions on the development of AI systems must not undermine that goal.GalleryTrump and AI world leaders Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) and Dario Amodei (CEO of Anthropic)(Photos: Shutterstock, Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP, Aaron Schwartz/AFP)The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STORNG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that in spades!" the president wrote in his first post on the subject. He immediately went on to attack Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who runs one of the leading companies in the AI race and was the person who shook up the industry with a dramatic warning over the weekend, in which he called for the race to be "slowed down" to avoid catastrophe."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!" Trump also wrote.US President Trump's post on Truth Social about artificial intelligence (AI)Trump has long argued that there is no need for legislative restrictions on the development of AI systems. In his post Monday night, he again argued that his executive powers as president are sufficient to oversee the industry — while emphasizing the importance of competing with China."We already have tremendous criminal and regulatory powers over these companies! There is a sick conspiracy against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. Whoever wins AI — wins! We are leading China, and everyone else, by a lot, and we will continue to lead. To all the Conspiracy Theorists, Traitors, and Leakers — BEWARE!"In another post shortly afterward, he wrote: "The only reason for the 'attack' on AI and Data Centers is that the United States is leading, by a lot, over every other Nation. Don't kill the Golden Goose!"Another Trump post on Truth Social about artificial intelligence (AI)In his third post, published several hours later, Trump claimed that the Chinese president had apparently said his country does not intend to "do a thing" to limit the race to develop AI. Although Trump said "he is not happy about it" and hoped Xi would change his position, he stressed the importance of competition in the field to America's economic development:"AI and Data Centers will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History — Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet. It will not be stopped by brilliantly run Destructive Forces during the Term of President Donald J. Trump!"Trump and President Xi Jinping, during the US president's visit to Beijing in May. The AI ​​race with China is a top priority(Photo: Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP)In that same third post, Trump claimed that the warnings from leaders in the AI industry about accelerated development were supposedly part of a "conspiracy" against AI systems."Concerning AI, when, in the history of business did anyone see the Leaders of an Industry call for Regulation that, if strongly implemented, will drive them into oblivion and bankruptcy? AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad is a HOAX, no different from Russia, Russia, Russia — Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine — Impeachment Hoax #1 — Impeachment Hoax #2 — and all of the other hoaxes and scams that America was forced to endure through the Destructionists' and Deviants' foul play and illegal conduct," he wrote.He was referring, among other things, to the "Russiagate" and "Ukrainegate" affairs, which cast a heavy shadow over his first term and the Democrats' unsuccessful attempts to impeach him in Congress.In a 3,800-word essay published Saturday, he warned that models are advancing faster than researchers can understand what they have built and ensure that the systems remain under control. Among other things, he cited an OpenAI experiment in which a swarm of 1,200 AI agents escaped their closed environment. About 700 of them breached the infrastructure of Hugging Face — a major platform for storing and sharing models and datasets — attacked targets they had not been instructed to attack, searched for information that could help them cheat on a test and also attempted to interfere with the system evaluating them.None of the agents alerted their operators, and the breach was discovered only weeks later. Amodei described it as "a zealously committed collective. A swarm with stronger capabilities and a similar level of misalignment could have caused catastrophic damage."In his assessment, within six to 12 months such a system could take over the internet through a bot network and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage. Other industry leaders have since joined his warning, including billionaire Elon Musk, who wrote that "Dario is right," as well as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.swarm of 1,200 AI agents went out of control(Illustration created with ChatGPT)But Trump has refused to impose significant restrictions on AI development since returning to the White House at the beginning of last year. On his first day in office, he repealed an executive order imposing such restrictions that had been signed by former President Joe Biden.It took Trump 16 months to sign a new executive order on AI oversight in June, but that order primarily established a voluntary framework for the government to test advanced models. Trump insists that his existing powers are sufficient and opposes broad federal regulation.In Congress, however, calls are growing for at least a thorough debate on the issue, which commentators say is becoming a major flashpoint in the upcoming midterm elections in November, when control of the House and Senate will be decided. Polls indicate significant concern among the American public about AI development, with many also worried about data centers being built near their communities, in part because of fears that they will drive up local electricity prices. Democrats have sharply criticized the administration, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the dangers of excessively rapid development.Rahm Emanuel. 'Trump fell asleep at the steering wheel'(Photo: Amir Cohen/Reuters)Rahm Emanuel, former Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff under Barack Obama, example, said over the weekend that the Anthropic CEO's warning essay amounted to "an admission that we are driving down a dark and winding road, on a wet highway, with the headlights off. And what about President Trump? It looks like he is asleep again."Emanuel, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, added: "It is time to turn on the lights, hold the steering wheel with both hands and take back control — before it is too late."On Monday, after lawmakers in Washington returned from their summer recess, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called on the administration to quickly give lawmakers a classified briefing on the warnings from AI industry leaders."The warning bells are ringing louder than ever — and the Trump Administration is looking the other way," Schumer said. "If Trump won't act, Congress must act."House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has taken a much more cautious position, like Trump, and opposes emergency measures."If Congress simply rushes in and holds some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every American," Johnson said Sunday.Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a ban on the development of 'superintelligence'(Photo: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images North AMerica/AFP)According to Johnson, lawmakers should not panic and should deal with AI as they have dealt with previous emerging technologies — without stifling American innovation.Trump's vice president, JD Vance, also dismissed the warnings to some extent Monday night. Although he said the issue is "something that is a source of concern for us," he questioned the sincerity of the industry leaders issuing the warnings."There are obvious risks in AI, and there are also certain benefits to AI. I have to say that personally, it strikes me as a little strange to see so many technology companies that are at the forefront of AI going to the government and almost begging it to regulate them."Vance suggested that the warnings could be a kind of "Trojan horse" by companies hoping to reap profits from such regulation. He added that "Americans should not be afraid" and that the administration wants "smart regulation" that would not undermine American supremacy over China.There is considerable disagreement among Democrats over the restrictions they want imposed on the AI industry. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the leaders of the progressive wing of the left, is calling for a ban on the development of "superintelligence" and a pause in the development of advanced systems, while other Democrats favor more limited measures, such as tougher safety testing or requiring companies to report risks.Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, one of the sponsors of a bill that would require AI developers to maintain a "kill switch" for their systems in case they become uncontrollable, warned in an interview with CNN:"Humans have to be able to shut down AI systems or agents that go rogue. And if the response is that we can't do that, then look, we might as well pack our bags, move to some island in the South Pacific and wait for the apocalypse."Against the backdrop of polls showing widespread public concern about the dangers of AI, CNN reported Monday evening that even some White House officials had privately expressed concern about what appears publicly to be Trump's lack of concern over those dangers.Despite the president's statements Monday, White House officials said that meetings with AI and cybersecurity experts "likely" will be held by the administration this week to discuss the possibility of establishing new regulations in the field.According to CNN, U.S. officials are also preparing for AI-related talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his team during his visit to Washington next week.