"It is humans who are responsible, not the AI," Bessent said. #
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said AI companies "need to take responsibility for themselves" as calls to establish guardrails related to the development of the technology mount.
Speaking to CNBC on Monday, Bessent said that "it is humans who are responsible, not the AI" and the Trump administration won't give them a "liability shield."
President Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected pacing the development of frontier models, saying the U.S. has to maintain its edge over other countries, particularly China.
However, he did say on Saturday that he is looking to create an "AI Force", with an AI czar at its head.
"I am forming the AI Force, much like I did Space Force, which has been a tremendous SUCCESS, in my First Term. To that end, I will be announcing, in the near future, the AI "Czar" - Only High I.Q. individuals need apply!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
It is unclear what the task force will focus on. Top AI executives have been discussing the need for companies to work together to minimize chances of the technology going rogue.
Earlier this month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei shared an essay entitled "We Must Pace The Frontier" in which he called for the development of cutting-edge AI technology to slow to allow safety protocols to catch up.
If AI innovation is not intentionally moderated, AI agents could become capable of "taking over the entire internet" within 6-12 months, the CEO warned. Elon Musk and Sam Altman, CEOs of rival tech companies, quickly endorsed Amodei's calls for moderation.
Elsewhere, over 100 artificial intelligence experts and safety evaluators are warning that outside oversight of companies will be credible only if evaluators are given genuine independence, deep access to frontier systems and protection from retaliation when their findings are unfavorable.
The coalition, organized by the AI Evaluator Forum, published a public letter Friday laying out minimum conditions for third-party organizations embedded inside leading AI companies to assess increasingly powerful models and the risks surrounding their development.
The organization said that outside testing cannot be considered genuinely independent simply because a third party conducts it. Evaluators also need control over their methods and conclusions, adequate access to systems and protection from conflicts of interest.
Under the proposed conditions, companies would allow evaluators to examine relevant systems, data, and tools, enter necessary physical spaces, and facilitate "candid and direct one-on-one communication with relevant staff." Evaluators would also retain editorial control over their findings and have the ability to communicate directly with company boards and other oversight bodies.
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