Trump rejects AI safety safeguards
Trump says AI safety fears a 'hoax' as he rejects calls for greater safeguards
Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Warm-up
- What risks or benefits of AI worry you most?
- Who should set AI rules: governments or companies? Why?
- When should warnings lead to regulation?
Vocabulary
- safeguard
- A rule or measure designed to prevent harm or danger.
- mandatory
- Required by law or official rule, not optional.
- third party
- An independent person or group not directly involved.
- selloff
- A rapid drop in share prices when many investors sell.
- guardrail
- A limit set to stop something from going too far.
- deceleration
- A deliberate slowing of progress or activity.
- monitoring
- Regular checking to observe changes or problems.
- extinction
- The complete end of a species or of humanity.
Reading
US President Donald Trump called fears about AI safety a "hoax" and attacked proposals for tighter safeguards. He compared warnings to the "Global Warming Scam" and the "RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA HOAX", declared "WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!", and said the only needed "guardrails" were a "strong and smart" president. His posts followed a selloff in some tech shares as investors weighed a slowdown in AI development.
The comments came after Anthropic co‑founder Jack Clark told the BBC a "kill switch" for dangerous systems, checked by a third party, may need to be mandatory and enforced by lawmakers. He said most labs can already "pull the plug".
Microsoft AI published guidance on "humanist AI" as the debate intensified. Senator Bernie Sanders warned that uncontrolled growth poses an existential risk, even the possibility of human extinction.
Inside Anthropic, the discussion is also sharp. Researcher Evan Hubinger put the chance of AI causing human extinction "within the next decade" at more than 10%. Chief executive Dario Amodei called for deceleration and closer monitoring, "without sacrificing commercial advantage". OpenAI’s Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk backed industry‑wide deceleration, regulation, and independent monitoring.
Comprehension
- What did Trump call fears about AI safety?
- What control did Jack Clark say may need to be mandatory?
- Why did some tech shares fall on Monday?
- What did Microsoft AI publish as the debate grew?
- What chance did Evan Hubinger give for extinction within a decade?
Grammar focus
Three-word phrasal-prepositional verbs
A three-word phrasal-prepositional verb is a verb + particle + preposition (e.g. come up against, put up with). They act as a single meaning unit and the particle+preposition order is fixed. (Example 2 constructed.)
- Chief executive Dario Amodei called for **deceleration and closer monitoring**
- Researchers **came up against** strict limits during tests. (Example 2 constructed.)
Grammar exercise
Circle the correct option in each sentence.
- Ministers (came up against / came up with) fierce opposition.
- Lawmakers (put with up / put up with) temporary pauses in trials.
- The agency (looked the issue into / looked into) complaints.
- A regulator (came down on / came on down) firms that ignored checks.
- Some experts (put up for / put up with) stricter safety rules.
Discussion
- Should governments impose AI guardrails, or should firms lead?
- Is an AI kill switch realistic, useful, both, or neither?
- Do warnings about AI extinction help policy, or harm it?
- How can rivals share safety data without losing advantage?
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