New Delhi: On Monday evening, as Nvidia chief Jensen Huang took questions on stage at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, the US President’s name appeared on his phone. Huang fumbled with the device, joked about the “very important call”, and then put Donald Trump on speaker for a room full of investors, founders, and technology leaders.
Trump then spoke for five minutes, weighing in on a major debate in tech: how fast should artificial intelligence be allowed to develop?
“I’m telling you, it’s all a hoax,” Trump said, his voice filling the auditorium. “The robots are not going to be taking over the world. That’s not going to happen.”
The President used a surprise phone call to a chipmaker’s CEO to say that warnings about AI getting out of control are exaggerated, politically convenient and, in his view, helpful to America’s rivals. “The only one that is happy about it is China,” he said earlier in a Truth Social post. “Whoever wins AI, wins!”
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‘Robots aren’t taking over’
The dispute began over the weekend, when some people inside the AI industry called for caution. On 12 September, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a 3,800-word essay saying the industry had downplayed the risks of AI and needed new rules.
“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models,” he wrote. “I won’t lie to you–there are real dangers. And I think for too long the industry lied to people about the fact that this technology had risks.”
By Monday, the message had reached the White House and triggered a strong response from Trump. He questioned why AI companies themselves were calling for tighter regulation.
“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?” the President asked on Truth Social.
He then attacked the idea that AI could threaten humanity: “I am the Hoax Buster, and I’m right now breaking another Hoax– that AI is going to take over, consume, and destroy the World, and that Robots will be marching into our Cities, and getting rid of us all!”
At the All-In Summit, the debate turned into a public spectacle. Huang, who has long supported rapid AI development, said there was no need for mandatory pauses.
“There’s just a whole bunch of stuff: pausing, pacing. Those are all voluntary things that they could do if they feel that their company is out of control,” he said.
Trump appeared to be on the same page as Huang.
“The robots will not be taking over. AI will not be taking over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax,” Trump said. Huang replied, “You’re right, we’re not going to let that happen, sir.”
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)