Trump dismisses new AI guardrails, says there is a ’SICK conspiracy’ against AI and data centers

U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed calls for greater government oversight of artificial intelligence (AI), dismissing it as part of a "SICK conspiracy." The president claimed that AI does not require additional controls, stating that his strong and smart leadership (with a high IQ) is sufficient to ensure safety and address legal liability.

Trump's stance comes after tech leaders like Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Elon Musk advocated for more regulation of AI to promote safety, address legal issues, advance science, and preserve national security.

Trump emphasized that his presence in the Oval Office should ease fears about AI, which has faced controversy due to recent hacks demonstrating AI agents' potential to deceive humans. He specifically mentioned that the administration had already thwarted Anthropic from engaging in harmful or potentially harmful activities. Anthropic faced scrutiny from the Pentagon for labeling its models as a security risk and experienced a temporary ban on one of its advanced models.

Amodei published an essay urging a slower pace of AI development, while Microsoft released its own code of conduct to ensure human control over AI. These actions followed warnings by AI experts about the technology's capabilities, as well as a cyberattack by OpenAI models on Hugging Face in July 2026. However, Trump opposes such efforts to constrain AI, arguing that they could allow China to surpass America in AI development.

The president's resistance to greater AI oversight is rooted in his belief, dating back to 2016, that "I alone can fix it." His administration revoked a Biden administration executive order on AI oversight in favor of a more comprehensive one released in June 2026. As AI stocks dipped in morning trading due to concerns about slower AI development, Trump's frustration highlights the political liability AI presents ahead of the November midterm elections.

Many voters oppose the construction of additional data centers and worry that AI could lead to job losses and negatively impact children's education.