President Donald Trump has confirmed plans to meet Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for dinner this Sunday, as the administration navigates the tension between AI safety concerns and the goal of maintaining a technological lead over China.
According to reports from Axios, the dinner meeting comes at a time when the debate over the pace of AI development is intensifying. While Amodei has been among technology leaders urging the industry to slow the development of increasingly capable AI systems to ensure safety measures keep pace, Trump stated that preserving the United States' lead in artificial intelligence remains a higher priority.
During an interview with Fox News, the president expressed opposition to slowing AI development, citing the country's massive investment in AI infrastructure. He estimated that the U.S. is approximately "a year and a half" ahead of China in the technology race.
Trump emphasized the competitive nature of the sector, asking, "Why should we give that up?" He dismissed recent concerns regarding autonomous AI agents behaving unexpectedly during security tests, telling Fox News, "I don’t worry about it." Earlier this month, during a phone call with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Trump characterized growing concerns over AI risks as a "hoax."
In addition to the dinner with Amodei, Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and several technology executives are scheduled to convene at the White House on September 29. The president is expected to make an announcement from the Oval Office at 2 p.m. ET on Monday.
