WASHINGTON, D.C. — The race to build more powerful artificial intelligence is now sparking a new warning from some of the people building it.
Concerns grew exponentially after a former Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, posted an alarming social media thread sounding the alarm on AI’s rate of progress last week.
“The people building AI earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the decade,” Coxon said in one of the posts.
Since then, the warning lights have continued to flash from within the AI industry. Several insiders worry new AI models are being developed faster than the rules designed to keep them in check.
“At the end of the day, the industry has to work together and it’s harder, but to some extent the world has to work together. If we go too slow, I still believe that the wrong people will be in charge of the technology. And that, again, will bring the probability of things going wrong very high,” said Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic.
In Washington — the question isn’t just how to control AI, it’s who should act first — and whether pumping the brakes could cost America the race and possibly its position on the world stage.
“We’re leading China in AI,” said President Trump over the weekend. “And frankly, I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins air wins.”
In recent days, President Trump appeared dismissive of some of the industry’s warnings.
“You have a lot of negative forces that’re bringing it up, that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and then bringing up things that won’t happen,” said Trump.
Trump addressed the latest AI concerns in a Truth Social post on Monday, where he called them a “HOAX.”
“Concerning AI, when, in the History of Business, did anyone see the Leaders of an Industry call for Regulation that, if strongly implemented, will drive them into oblivion and bankruptcy? AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX, no different from RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA — UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE — IMPEACHMENT HOAX #1 — IMPEACHMENT HOAX #2 — and all of the other HOAXES and SCAMS that America was forced to endure through the Destructionists’ and Deviants’ foul play and illegal conduct,” the President wrote.
“That’s not a hoax. It’s very real,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Monday. “And it requires decisive congressional action immediately.”
Leaders on both sides are calling for a meeting with tech leaders to find the best path forward.
“They need to come together in a meeting with us and sit down and figure out what the right balance is. We cannot put a moratorium on this because China will overlap us,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Trump administration to provide an all-Senators briefing “on the dangers of unchecked AI development—and to explain its lack of action to protect our country.”
“We need a full accounting of their framework for testing AI models. We need clear answers on how we’ll defend against AI-enabled cyberattacks. And we need to know the steps being taken to prevent China from accessing our most advanced AI chips and equipment,” Schumer said on social media.
Speaker Johnson told reporters Monday that he’s expected to meet with AI leaders later this week or early next week.
Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are also reportedly discussing a new standards body that could test advanced AI before it reaches the public.
