{"slug": "trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to", "title": "Trump dismisses fears over AI as Ted Cruz says he’d prefer ‘US killer robots’ to Chinese ones", "summary": "President Donald Trump said Thursday he has no fears about artificial intelligence posing an existential threat, telling reporters he instead worries that \"if we don't win AI, we're going to be put in a very bad position,\" and claiming the U.S. leads China by about a year. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz told Politico's Dasha Burns the same day, \"If they're going to be killer robots, I'd rather they be American killer robots and not Chinese killer robots,\" saying China is \"putting no guardrails\" on AI development. The remarks followed former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation post warning the industry is \"racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,\" and a joint U.S. intelligence and law enforcement statement accusing China of stealing American AI intellectual property via distillation, naming DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Alibaba.", "body_md": "# Trump dismisses fears over AI as Ted Cruz says he’d prefer ‘US killer robots’ to Chinese ones\n\nPresident Donald Trump rejects anxiety over potential existential threat posed by artificial intelligence but warns against allowing China to take the lead in developing it\n\n- Bookmark\n\nPresident [Donald Trump](/topic/donald-trump) has dismissed concerns about [artificial intelligence](/topic/artificial-intelligence) posing an existential threat to humanity but stressed it was important for the U.S. to “win” the battle for control of the technology with [China](/topic/china).\n\nSpeaking to reporters Thursday before boarding his Air Force One flight home to Washington, D.C., following the conclusion of the Republican midterms convention in Dallas, Texas, the president was asked if he had any fears about AI’s rapid advance.\n\n“No, I don’t have any,” he [answered](https://x.com/clashreport/status/2098306827834323359). “I have concerns that, if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading China right now by a pretty good period. I would say a year, which is, you know, considered a lot.”\n\nSeparately, Texas Republican Sen. [Ted Cruz](/topic/ted-cruz) also weighed in on the subject of potential extermination by rogue AI Thursday, [telling *Politico*’s Dasha Burns](https://x.com/politico/status/2098117210296156663): “If they’re going to be killer robots, I’d rather they be American killer robots and not Chinese killer robots.”\n\nLike Trump, Cruz warned against China’s role in the swift evolution of the technology, saying the competition Beijing represented meant it would be impossible to slow down the pace of development, adding: “The Chinese are putting no guardrails. They’re going full speed ahead.”\n\nHe said the U.S. must not “stifle innovation” and that it would be “dangerous” to allow China to steal a march.\n\nTheir comments came after former [Anthropic](/topic/anthropic) researcher Jacob Coxon took to X Wednesday to [announce his resignation](/tech/anthropic-openai-ai-threat-jacob-coxon-b3047033.html) and [warn](https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843) that those leading the sector were “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” without taking sufficient precautions.\n\n“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade, Coxon [said](https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476203863224394). “This is not a marketing stunt.” \n\nOn the same day, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials issued a joint statement [accusing China of stealing intellectual property](/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-china-ai-distillation-trump-b3047223.html) from American AI laboratories through a process known as distillation, singling out the Chinese firms DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Alibaba for criticism. \n\nChinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded by urging the U.S. to “refrain from making false accusations and smearing China,” escalating tensions between the superpowers ahead of Premier Xi Jinping’s arrival in Washington on September 24.\n\nTrump, who [cheerily posts AI memes](/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-truth-social-posts-sarah-matthews-b3048078.html) on his Truth Social platform, also downplayed concerns about the technology in an interview with GB News earlier this month, [telling Bev Turner](https://www.gbnews.com/politics/us/video-donald-trump-gb-news-praises-ai-create-millions-jobs): “AI is going to be positive. There’s some negatives, but that’ll be straightened out. \n\n“And we’re building plants, data centres, data centres are actually fabulous. They create tremendous wealth, tremendous jobs.”\n\nAsked if he feared AI could ultimately hit employment, he replied: “I think it’ll create millions of jobs because it’s going to create business.\n\n“Computers and things have to be created in some form, and they’re created by man. They are created, but they're created by us. It’s going to always start with us.”\n\nAsked if he believed AI could one day “turn against” humanity, he [said](https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/2098216118083055674): “It’s going to be fine. We’ll always have something to stop them.”\n\n## Join our commenting forum\n\nJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies\n\n[Comments](#comments-area)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ai-china-ted-cruz-b3048593.html", "published_at": "2026-09-11 12:21:17+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-11 12:38:19.267086+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-safety"], "entities": ["Donald Trump", "Ted Cruz", "China", "Anthropic", "Jacob Coxon", "DeepSeek", "Moonshot AI", "Alibaba"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/trump-dismisses-fears-over-ai-as-ted-cruz-says-hed-prefer-us-killer-robots-to.jsonld"}}