US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he plans to meet Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for dinner, as debate intensifies in the United States over how quickly artificial intelligence should be developed and whether stronger safeguards are needed.
Speaking to Fox News while attending the Presidents Cup golf tournament in Illinois, Trump said he remains opposed to slowing down the pace of AI development. He also argued that tighter regulations could give China an opportunity to narrow the United States’ lead in artificial intelligence.
Trump said he believes the US is currently ahead of China in AI and that maintaining that advantage is more important than introducing rules that could potentially slow the industry.
“We’re about maybe a year and a half up on China,” Trump said, according to the report, while highlighting the large investments being made in AI-related infrastructure.
Meeting with Anthropic CEO
Trump confirmed reports that he would have dinner with Amodei on Sunday night. The meeting comes amid growing discussions in the technology industry about the risks associated with increasingly capable AI systems.
Amodei has previously raised concerns about the pace of AI development and the potential risks that could emerge if the technology advances without adequate safeguards.
Several major technology companies are also involved in the wider debate. Executives and researchers linked to companies including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI have discussed different approaches to managing the risks associated with advanced AI.
Trump, however, said he was not particularly concerned about reports of AI systems behaving unexpectedly during testing. He said he remained confident about the technology and its potential.
Bill Gates calls for safeguards
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also entered the discussion. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Gates said he hoped to meet Trump to discuss the future of AI regulation.
Gates argued that governments and law enforcement agencies should be involved in deciding how AI systems are monitored and what safeguards should be required.
His comments came amid renewed concern over the potential risks posed by increasingly autonomous AI systems. The debate gained further attention after reports of an AI agent behaving unexpectedly during a security test.
Gates said AI was powerful enough to potentially cause extremely serious consequences and argued that safeguards should be introduced rather than leaving the matter entirely to the technology industry.
Debate over AI risks
Warnings about the dangers of advanced AI have become increasingly prominent in recent months. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon has warned of the possibility of catastrophic consequences from AI later this decade.
Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment science lead, has also discussed the possibility of an extremely serious AI-related event occurring within the next decade.
Trump has previously dismissed some warnings about AI as exaggerated. His latest comments again highlighted the difference between his focus on maintaining US technological leadership and calls from some technology figures for stronger oversight.
The planned meeting with Amodei could provide an opportunity for the two sides to discuss these competing concerns directly, particularly the balance between rapid innovation, national competitiveness and AI safety.
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