US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he is creating an "AI Force" and will appoint a new "AI czar" to oversee the development of the nation's artificial intelligence industry.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump described AI as "the next Industrial Revolution" and said the initiative was aimed at protecting and advancing the sector's growth. He did not provide details about the structure of the new group or a timeline for appointing the new adviser.
"We will not in any way hinder or stifle the Growth of this incredible Industry," Trump wrote. "Rather, we will cherish it, help it, and watch over it, as it grows!"
Trump likened the AI Force to the Space Force, the newest branch of the US military, which he established during his first term in office.
Trump previously appointed venture capitalist David Sacks as his AI czar. Sacks resigned from that role earlier this year and became an external adviser to the president. He now chairs Trump's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The announcement comes amid mounting concern from technology executives and the public about the pace of AI development. Leaders of several of the world's largest AI companies have publicly called for a slowdown, citing warnings that rapid advances could outpace the ability to develop the technology safely.
A safety researcher at Anthropic warned that there is a greater than 10 percent chance AI "could kill all humans" within the next decade. Trump dismissed the claim, calling it a "hoax."
"The robots will not be taking over," Trump said on Monday during a phone call to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the All-In Summit. "The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world."
Anthropic head Dario Amodei has called for AI development to slow down and proposed industry-wide deceleration, regulation, and independent monitoring of AI model development. OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk have both said they agree with his recommendations.
Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, said a "kill switch" that can be verified by a third party may need to be made mandatory for the industry.
Despite those calls, Altman suggested this week that Washington has struggled to keep pace with the technology and how to regulate it. He said the public should have more faith in AI companies to manage safety themselves.
"The world should trust that we are going to do the right thing because it's the right thing and we feel the magnitude of this," Altman told a conference in San Francisco.
Sacks has also been sceptical of regulation. In a recent interview, he suggested fears that AI could harm people are overblown. "I think this is becoming a panic," he said.
Trump's Saturday announcement also included a defence of AI data centres, which he called "prestigious." The facilities have faced growing opposition in communities across the United States over their use of natural resources and their role in rising energy costs. The issue has united lawmakers from both major parties ahead of November's midterm elections.
Earlier this week, the US House of Representatives passed a bill by a vote of 417 to 3 that would minimise the impact of AI data centre electricity use on residents' utility bills.
Trump's pro-growth, anti-regulatory stance on AI is expected to be a central issue at his summit next week in Washington with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the United Kingdom, a cross-party parliamentary committee has published a report calling for new legislation on AI to "address the scale and seriousness" of the human rights risks posed by the technology, arguing that existing laws are ill-equipped to address its rapid growth.
