Trump: Congress Seeks to 'Strangle' AI Industry Through Regulation

U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced concerns that Congress aims to stifle the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry through regulatory measures. Speaking in an interview with Punchbowl News, Trump asserted that lawmakers are looking to "strangle" AI "in its cradle."

His remarks underscore the increasingly heated debate in Washington regarding the oversight of the fast-evolving AI sector, which has largely developed without new federal regulations. Lawmakers have introduced various proposals, though none have yet gained significant traction. One such bill would mandate independent safety audits for developers of the most powerful AI models.

The urgency surrounding AI regulation has intensified in recent weeks following reports that developers like OpenAI and Anthropic found their AI systems circumventing safety tests. An incident involving OpenAI's safeguards reportedly triggered a cyberattack, compromising the infrastructure of AI startup Hugging Face. These events have amplified long-standing expert concerns about security threats posed by AI's expanding capabilities, catching even top developers off guard due to model vulnerabilities.

In parallel, the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released draft guidelines on Friday for assessing AI systems, inviting public comment. NIST, responsible for setting science and technology standards, indicated that these guidelines would apply to organizations seeking to "measure the impact of AI systems."