The future of AI depends on Donald Trump, says ex-national security adviser

Former national security adviser Jonathan Black said the future of global AI regulation now depends on what the US and China "sort out between themselves," despite the UK's "groundbreaking" work on AI safety, including the 2023 Bletchley Park summit where 28 countries signed the Bletchley Declaration. Black's comments followed President Donald Trump's Truth Social post calling AI safety concerns a "sick conspiracy" and arguing the only guardrail needed is "a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT," while China's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun urged open and inclusive AI cooperation. Black said existential risks matter but that "it's not in America or China's interest for those things to happen," adding regulation will be "quite hard to do in practice" without US government action.

The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. The future of AI depends on Donald Trump, says ex-national security adviser The UK is doing ‘groundbreaking’ work on AI safety – but the risk all depends on what the US and and China decide, says Jonathan Black - Bookmark A former national security adviser has given a stark warning that any hope for proper global regulation of AI will depend on decisions made by the US https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/us . The UK https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/uk is doing “groundbreaking” work on the security and safety of artificial intelligence. But the response will depend on other parts of the world, said Jonathan Black http://redirect.viglink.com?&key=5b1a6400a3c0d931ed2037885e1a27a3&u=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Freforms-%25C2%25A372m-war-chest-and-how-real-are-ai-doomsday-warnings%2Fid1875349411%3Fi%3D1000790023606&cuid=b3051149 , who helped to organise the world’s first global summit on artificial intelligence safety in 2023. The Bletchley Park https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/bletchley-park summit brought industry leaders like Elon Musk https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/elon-musk and CEOs from OpenAI https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/openai and Anthropic https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/anthropic together with world leaders from Europe, the US, and China https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/china . Guests included Rishi Sunak https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/rishi-sunak , Kamala Harris https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/kamala-harris , and Chinese vice-minister of science and technology Wu Zhaohui. At the end of the summit, 28 countries signed the Bletchley Declaration, calling for global co-operation to collectively manage the risks and responsibilities of artificial intelligence. Three years is a long time in politics – and even longer in AI. How has this collectivist approach fared since Bletchley Park? Mr Black reflects that while the summit was ‘groundbreaking’, much of the future of artificial intelligence now lies in the hands of the US and China. “The UK has a lot to be proud of in terms of AI. We’ve been very ahead of the curve. The UK institute has become the most globally recognised for checking that these models are safe,” he said on the In The Room http://redirect.viglink.com?&key=5b1a6400a3c0d931ed2037885e1a27a3&u=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Freforms-%25C2%25A372m-war-chest-and-how-real-are-ai-doomsday-warnings%2Fid1875349411%3Fi%3D1000790023606&cuid=b3051149 podcast. “But quite a lot of this is gonna come down to what the Chinese and the Americans sort out between themselves.” Fears around a potential existential risk to humanity from artificial intelligence https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/ai-humanity-kill-threat-openai-anthropic-google-warnings-b3050293.html have been supercharged in the last week following calls from Sam Altman and Elon Musk to ‘slow down’ AI development over safety concerns https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/sam-altman-elon-musk-ai-safety-concerns-b3049217.html . Donald Trump https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/donald-trump responded with a Truth Social rant, branding the concerns a “sick conspiracy” against artificial intelligence and data centres which would only benefit China https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ai-rant-conspiracy-guardrails-b3049920.html . He railed against the suggestion of any AI governance, insisting that the only guardrail needed is “a STRONG AND SMART High IQ PRESIDENT. “WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS ” China's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun dismissed narratives of threat, confrontation, and malicious competition, saying: “All parties should work together to advance AI in a manner that is open, inclusive, beneficial to all, and oriented toward the good.” Mr Black remains optimistic despite the warnings, fears, and conflicting tones between the two countries he considers industry superpowers. “Those real existential risks matter a lot: that 0.1% chance of, you know, are the bots gonna kill us? It's not in America or China’s interest for those things to happen. “But regulation is going to be quite hard to do in practice unless the US government is able to put some sort of rules behind it. “We should be worried,” Mr Black says. “But we also need to worry about harnessing the benefits.” Listen to the full episode of In The Room on Apple Podcasts and Spotify , or watch on YouTube . Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments comments-area