Trump says there are ways to 'rein' in AI 'if we have to'

President Donald Trump said the Justice Department has the ability to “rein” AI if need be. “We will be careful, and that’s why we have the Department of Justice, and other Law Enforcement bodies, that will rein things in if we have to,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

While Trump mentioned the possibility of federal intervention in AI, he reiterated his long held-belief that it’s best to have a light touch. “I will only encourage AI or, SI (SUPER INTELLIGENCE)!” he said.

One potential regulatory area could center around liability.

Earlier Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration would not grant frontier AI labs protection from such risks. “These labs need to take responsibility for themselves,” Bessent said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “They can slow down any time they want to.” Trump and his administration are being closely watched to see how they respond to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s renewed push for federal regulation.

Amodei already has some buy-in from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for his broader point that frontier AI labs should “pace” their development and use the time they buy to ensure the safety of their most cutting-edge models.

In the US, states including California and Illinois have led AI regulation efforts as Congress has struggled to reach consensus.

Trump has issued multiple AI-related executive actions, but there are limits to what he can do.

After Amodei renewed his request, Trump and Vice President JD Vance both expressed skepticism that AI companies would ask the government to impose regulations that would slow parts of the industry.

In his post on Monday, Trump reiterated his view that the current conversation around AI safety is a “hoax” akin to his stated opinions on climate change, questions about his 2016 campaign’s relationship with Russia, and the circumstances of his first impeachment. “This is more of a Hoax than even that of RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE, and Climate Change!” Trump wrote.

Previously, Trump suggested that the only guardrail the US needed was himself because he was smart enough to know how to manage the technology. “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!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on September 17.

Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently brought fears around AI potentially wiping out humans back to the forefront with his viral resignation, which warned that workers at AI labs privately fear the technology could one day kill all humans.