By Katharine Jackson
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 – President Donald Trump’s meeting with tech CEOs on artificial intelligence on Tuesday will focus on finding a balance between innovation and oversight, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, as the federal government seeks to define its role in the burgeoning technology.
“We do not need a moratorium. We do not need to jump in and hyper-regulate this, because we’ll lose the race to China,” Johnson said in an interview on Monday with Fox Business Network. “The innovation is important to continue, but we have to strike the right balance. That’s what the conversation is going to be about.”
The White House meeting, which will include Johnson, comes as leading AI companies are calling for slowing development of increasingly capable AI systems, warning of the risks to humanity and appealing for governments to work together to manage the increasingly powerful technology.
Trump has downplayed concerns over the misuse of artificial intelligence harming people as he stressed the importance of maintaining America’s competitive edge over China. He says the US already has guardrails in place for the powerful technology, including at the Department of Justice.
Johnson said the US should be mindful of safety but not stymie the technology’s development. “I think there may be a role for the DOJ if things go awry. But what we need before we get to that stage is transparency, and we need some oversight,” he said on “Mornings with Fox Business.”
Lawmakers in both parties have questioned Trump’s hands-off approach even as the technology raises fears about safety, job losses and the concentration of power among a handful of tech companies.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said AI industry leaders were pleading for some government action and Congress has a responsibility to protect the American people.
“So, when it comes to AI safety, it certainly seems to me that we need to actually lean in boldly and responsibly — now,” Jeffries told CNBC on Monday.
The president had dinner with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Sunday.
Anthropic and its rivals have called for slowing AI development. These include OpenAI, Google’s DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson, Jacob Bogage and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Andrea Ricci )
