Trump faces challenges in AI push amid safety concerns

President Trump has spent months telling anyone who’ll listen that AI safety fears are overblown, a strategic distraction cooked up to slow American progress while China races ahead. Trump took to Truth Social in September 2026 to dismiss AI safety concerns as a “hoax.” The problem: the people disagreeing with him include some of his own allies in Silicon Valley, a majority of American voters, and the leaders of companies his administration has been courting for investment. The industry breaks ranks Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling for slower AI development and meaningful oversight of frontier models. OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Elon Musk both endorsed the general thrust of Amodei’s argument. The administration had already taken a light-touch approach earlier in 2026, signing executive orders that established voluntary 30-day review periods for frontier models. Those same orders included provisions to block state-level AI regulations. The message was clear: Washington would set the floor, and the floor would be low. Polling paints a different picture Polls reveal that a majority of Americans believe unchecked AI could eventually pose an existential threat to humani...