President Trump dismissed concerns about artificial intelligence safety as a coordinated hoax on Tuesday, rejecting calls from tech leaders like Anthropic’s Jack Clark for mandatory AI kill switches. Instead, Trump proposed giving advanced AI systems their own primetime television program, arguing that competition and viewership would naturally regulate their behavior.
“These so-called safety experts are just scared of innovation,” Trump said during a Rose Garden press conference. “AI doesn’t need a kill switch. It needs a better agent and a 9 p.m. time slot.”
The comments arrive as researchers and industry figures increasingly warn that rapidly advancing AI systems pose existential risks without proper safeguards. Clark’s suggestion of mandatory kill switches—emergency off buttons for potentially dangerous models—has gained traction among those concerned about uncontrolled AI development. Trump’s response was characteristically dismissive: he claimed the entire safety movement was invented by competitors trying to slow American technological dominance.
When pressed on what happens if an AI system becomes genuinely dangerous, Trump doubled down. “Look, if it goes rogue, we sue it. We’re very good at suing things. The lawyers will handle it.” He then suggested that a reality competition between different AI systems would be “tremendous ratings” and would naturally eliminate the bad ones through viewer choice.
Tech analysts note that market forces and television ratings have historically been excellent at preventing catastrophic outcomes. When asked to elaborate, they declined to comment.