Trump Rejects AI Safety Rules to Outpace China

President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have rejected requests from AI firms, including Anthropic, to implement restrictive safety regulations. The administration argues that such guardrails could hinder U.S. development and allow China to gain a competitive advantage. This decision follows the September 2026 resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned that the race toward superintelligence is gambling with human lives.

Simultaneously, the administration is integrating AI into federal operations to reduce regulatory delays. Usha Turner, head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs, announced at a G20 meeting that the government intends to use AI to accelerate permitting decisions for energy projects. Turner noted that the 20 largest global economies agree that regulatory delays hinder economic security and energy abundance.

These moves coincide with a broader deregulatory push. The Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized the repeal of most Biden-era greenhouse gas requirements for power plants, marking the largest power sector deregulatory action in U.S. history. To manage the resulting energy demand, Energy Secretary Chris Wright supported a ratepayer protection pledge, encouraging tech companies to provide their own power for AI data centers to keep electricity affordable for the public.