Trump: Do not want to shut down or take over Anthropic; the U.S. is significantly ahead of other countries in AI.

BlockBeats News, June 20 — U.S. President Donald Trump stated in an Axios interview that AI can become a weapon if misused; if used properly, AI will be a major event, even surpassing the internet in scale. He said that AI could enable humans to find medical cures for certain diseases 25 years earlier, but at the same time, we must remain vigilant.

When asked whether he considers Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei a threat to national security, Trump said, "Not right now, but maybe a week ago." Trump mentioned that he had recently met with Dario Amodei, who gave a speech during the G7 summit and responded quickly to government requests. Trump stated that Anthropic has so far behaved very responsibly.

Regarding whether he would shut down or take over Anthropic, Trump said he does not want to do that because the U.S. is significantly ahead of China in AI. Trump said AI requires massive amounts of electricity and proposed that AI companies build their own power plants. He believes the benefits of AI outweigh the drawbacks, and the government will identify and prevent the harmful parts.

When asked whether he would use the Defense Production Act to regulate or control AI, Trump said he would do so if necessary, but he is currently unsure if it is required. He also mentioned that France proposed establishing an international organization at the G7 and hopes the U.S. will share more AI technology, but the problem for the U.S. is "we are so far ahead of everyone else."