President Donald Trump disclosed an otherwise unidentified Department of Justice (DOJ) intervention involving a major AI company, saying the episode showed the U.S. could address AI risks without losing ground to China.
Trump made the remarks during a November interview with Ross Douthat for 60 Minutes, published on Sunday. The President said the DOJ contacted a tech company leader amid reported improper conduct involving AI and warned that person to prepare for prison.
“We called them very strongly and said, get ready to go to jail,” he said.
He declined to identify the individual or company, but said the person was connected to “one of the big ones,” referring to a major AI company.
Trump said after the warning, the individual “totally changed everything.” He did not describe the alleged conduct or any resulting enforcement action or provide additional details.
The President made the comments while discussing the U.S. competition with China in AI. He said the risks could be managed and that he supported guardrails, while opposing regulations he believes could leave the U.S. behind.
Trump on AI Oversight and Growth
Trump’s comments follow a broader administration focus on monitoring AI companies while limiting rules that could restrict development. In September, he said the DOJ would watch the industry closely if companies created serious problems. At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Trump said he would not “stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution.”
Trump also unveiled the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, a joint commitment on frontier AI responsibilities, following a meeting with leading technology executives. The agreement was signed by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX) xAI CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang.
DOJ Formalizes Trump’s AI Oversight Push
In October, Trump named Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, as the administration’s AI czar and tasked with leading a White House “Super Intelligence Force.” The DOJ subsequently announced the launch of a Super Intelligence Task Force, last week, adding an institutional framework to the administration’s stated approach.
The Task Force would work to prevent misuse of strategic intelligence (SI) by foreign actors, criminal organizations and individuals or companies engaged in unlawful conduct. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the task force will partner with Clayton to protect critical technologies, U.S. infrastructure and national security while prosecuting those who illegally misuse SI.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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