Donald Trump blasts calls to slow AI development as ‘sick conspiracy’ that would hand China advantage

DONALD Trump rejected calls to slow artificial intelligence development — branding opposition a “sick conspiracy” that would benefit China. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.2 per cent in early trading, while the broader S&P 500 slipped 0.5 per cent as fears of tighter controls swept through markets. Donald Trump has rejected calls to slow artificial intelligence development — branding opposition a ‘sick conspiracy’ that would benefit China Credit: Reuters The slowdown calls have seen Nvidia sink 3.6 per cent while robotics specialist Teradyne plunged 9.2 per cent as AI-linked stocks fell. Credit: Reuters Nvidia, the chipmaking giant at the centre of the AI boom, sank 3.6 per cent, while robotics specialist Teradyne plunged 9.2 per cent. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which sells AI systems to businesses, was also among the biggest fallers. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The sell-off followed a warning from Anthropic boss Dario Amodei, who urged the industry to “slow the pace” of development to prevent powerful systems escaping human control. He warned an AI swarm could potentially take over the internet within a year. The sell-off followed a warning from Anthropic boss Dario Amodei, who urged the industry to ‘slow the pace’ of development to prevent powerful systems escaping human control Credit: Reuters Tech leaders Sam Altman and Elon Musk also backed the call for a slowdown in AI development, fuelling fears of investment being curbed and new products delayed Credit: Reuters Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed the call, intensifying concerns that major companies could curb investment and delay new products. Analysts warned that any retreat could hit economic growth, given the huge sums being poured into chips, data centres and other AI infrastructure. Trump responded with a furious Truth Social post, claiming America needed no new AI “guardrails” beyond a “strong and smart” president. He accused critics of helping China and insisted his administration already had sweeping criminal and regulatory powers over technology companies. Most read in The Sun “Whoever wins AI, wins,” he declared, warning “conspiracy theorists, treasonists, traitors and leakers” to beware. Despite the market rout, Nvidia remained the world’s most valuable company, with a market value of about $5trillion, underlining how heavily investors are betting on AI’s future. Comment now