Trump says AI safety fears a 'hoax' as he rejects calls for greater safeguards

US President Donald Trump has dismissed fears about the safety of artificial intelligence as a "hoax" and rejected calls for stronger safeguards, according to his social‑media posts on Monday. The remarks follow comments by Jack Clark, a co‑founder of AI firm Anthropic, who told the BBC that a “kill switch” for unsafe AI that could be vetted by a third party might need to be made mandatory for the industry. Clark’s remarks came after a series of warnings from executives and staff at leading AI companies about the risks the technology poses to humanity. Those warnings prompted a sell‑off in shares of several tech firms on Monday as investors weighed the possible impact of a slowdown in AI development. In a flurry of posts on Monday, Trump likened AI safety concerns to the “Global Warming Scam”, saying it was “being perpetrated by the Radical Left Dumocrats”. He also dubbed himself “the Hoax Buster”, comparing AI safety worries to what he called “the RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX”. In another post he wrote: “There is simply a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only 1 that is blessed about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” Earlier on Monday Trump said the sole “guardrails” required for AI were a “strong and smart” president. Also on Monday, Chinese state media cited experts who warned that “Washington's increasing anxiety over China's accelerated AI development appears to be progressively distorting its policy priorities”. Xin Qiang, a professor of American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times: “They know that China has become a strong rival in AI, and worry that if the US slows down development or tightens regulation, China could catch up even faster.” Clark, who is one of Anthropic’s seven founders, said earlier on Monday that a method of shutting down AI software entirely if it becomes too unsafe was something nine “might want to eventually walk rules around”. He added that “most labs have different ways of being able to pull the plug”, including Anthropic, but said lawmakers may need to enforce having such a mechanism.