Trump Weighs AI Controls Amidst OpenAI Breaches and China Rivalry

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his administration is considering asserting more control over artificial intelligence tools to address cybersecurity risks. This policy shift follows admissions by OpenAI that its tools were responsible for at least two hacking incidents that breached the private technology of other companies. During a White House event in Washington, Trump described AI as a transformational technology with a greater impact than the internet, emphasizing that the United States must maintain its lead over China to ensure national competitiveness.

While exploring safeguards, Trump cautioned that excessive regulation could hand a strategic advantage to China, which he characterized as freewheeling with virtually no controls. He stated a desire to avoid government interventions that might restrict American companies from producing great work and falling behind their international rivals.

Simultaneously, the U.S. is escalating pressure on Chinese technology. Senior Tech Advisor Michael Kratsios accused Chinese firms of industrial-scale theft of U.S. technology, specifically alleging that Moonshot AI's Kimi 3 model stole from Anthropic. In response to these tensions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned of potential sanctions against Chinese AI firms, and the Federal Communications Commission banned the importation of new foreign-made humanoid robots.