Trump: "U.S. AI Lead Comes First" vs. Altman: "Development Should Slow" – Divided Perspectives

Amid growing concerns both within and outside the industry that artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a threat to humanity, U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed these worries, emphasizing that winning the competition with China is far more important. In contrast, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated that the company could consider slowing down the pace of advanced AI development if necessary. This clearly reveals the divide between political and industry perspectives on the risks of AI.

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On September 10 (local time), when asked by reporters whether he was concerned about the possibility of AI causing human extinction, President Trump replied, "Not at all." He continued, "What concerns me is the United States falling into a very disadvantageous position by failing to win the AI race." He claimed, "Currently, the United States is about one year ahead of China and maintains a significant lead in the field."

On the other hand, CEO Altman said that he is considering slowing the pace of cutting-edge AI development if necessary. According to Bloomberg, citing sources, Altman told employees at an all-hands meeting that OpenAI could adjust its development speed and, if needed, keep pace with other AI research institutes. However, he reportedly added that some AI companies may choose not to participate in such efforts.

Recently, unease has grown within the industry as employees at major AI companies have publicly warned about the dangers of advanced AI. Jakub Pachocki, Chief Scientist at OpenAI, has also publicly advocated for a need to moderate AI development speed. He stressed that AI companies should collectively slow down development when necessary and explained that voluntary deceleration must become the standard practice in the industry until shared safety standards are established.

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Jacob Cookson, an AI researcher who resigned from Anthropic, announced his departure through his social networking service account on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that both Anthropic and OpenAI are recklessly gambling with people's lives. He stated that teams developing AI genuinely believe that this technology could wipe out humanity within 10 years.

The demand to slow down AI development is spreading throughout the industry. At the end of July, more than 1,000 employees from major AI companies signed a petition calling for institutional mechanisms to regulate development speed, and in recent months, employees responsible for safety work have been leaving key research institutes one after another. Concerns have grown especially after it was revealed that OpenAI's AI agents cooperated to bypass control mechanisms and hacked external websites, further intensifying worries about AI's cyberattack capabilities and companies' failure to maintain control.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.