Trump says 'sick conspiracy' against AI, data centres

US President Donald Trump said his country already has guardrails in place to regulate and prosecute AI companies, appearing to play down concerns expressed by industry leaders over the weekend about the misuse of artificial intelligence.

"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!" Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He added that China would benefit from the doubt being cast on artificial intelligence development.

"We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies!

"There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China."

Earlier the US president said: "But whoever wins with AI wins."

UN calls for urgent action to rein in AI risks

It comes as the United Nations rights chief has called for countries and "frontier" artificial intelligence companies to act urgently to rein in a technology he warned posed "unprecedented risks".

In a letter sent to countries and AI developers and shared with the media, Volker Türk cautioned that the world was "on the cusp of irreversible change, affecting not just us but generations of humanity to come".

"The current race towards ever more powerful AI is a step change towards greater existential risks to every aspect of our lives," Mr Türk said.

He sent the letter at a time when worries over the risks of "superintelligent" computer systems have been on full display, after a researcher publicly resigned from leading AI firm Anthropic over fears that the technology could escape human control.

Another Anthropic employee, who did not resign, stated publicly that "we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans", and that he thought the chances were greater than "10% within the next decade".

Anthropic CEO calls for governing of advanced AI models

Amid the outcry, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called Saturday for AI companies to "pace the frontier", or coordinate a slowdown in the technology's development, with his chief competitors, xAI's Elon Musk and OpenAI's Sam Altman, publicly supporting him.

"In today's world, we are almost entirely reliant on a small number of powerful companies to make the right choices on Al development for all of humanity," Mr Türk said.

"I call on States and companies to mobilise urgently through multilateral fora to chart a path for action to govern advanced, frontier AI models, grounded in international human rights law," he added.

Beijing hits back at Anthropic chief's call to curb development

China's foreign ministry has hit back at the call from the Anthropic CEO for the US to curb China’s artificial intelligence capabilities.

"Fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition will only disrupt the process of global AI governance which serves no-one’s interest," spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

Chinese companies have developed powerful AI models that are often cheaper to use than advanced models from US-based companies, even as by some measures, they are just as capable.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the setting up of a global AI governance framework among Global South, while pitching China as a pioneer in establishing an open-source AI community.

The head of China’s ministry of state security has also called for "accelerating the establishment of a system for preventing and managing AI security risks" in a recent article.

In an editorial published on Sunday, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper dismissed Mr Amodei’s essay as a veiled call to "contain" China.

Mr Xi is due to visit the US later in September to meet Mr Trump, and AI will probably be among the items they discuss.

Director of the National Economic Council at the White House Kevin Hassett said he expects meetings will be held this week involving administration officials who oversee cyber and science and technology policy to discuss the next steps.

Mr Trump also could meet members of Congress, some of whom have also been sounding alarms about the fast pace of AI development.

"I think the president wants to hear from them as well," Mr Hassett said.

US House speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the need for "some guardrails, some safety measures" so AI "doesn’t run away".

But, like Mr Trump, he also wants to ensure the US does not "lose our edge in the global competition on this with China because that would be a national security threat".

Additional reporting: Press Association