The announcement comes in the face of growing concerns from people across the country about AI.
US President Donald Trump has announced the creation of an “AI Army” and the appointment of a new “AI czar” to oversee the development of the country’s artificial intelligence industry.
In a lengthy social media post on Saturday, President Trump said he was doing so with the goal of protecting and advancing the development of AI, the “next industrial revolution” that will be key to the country’s economic growth. He did not provide further details about the group or when he would appoint new advisers.
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“We do not intend to inhibit or suppress the growth of this great industry in any way,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Rather, we would like to cherish them, help them, and watch them grow!”
The president likened the AI Army to the Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. military created during the president’s first term.
President Trump already has one “AI czar” in venture capitalist David Sachs. He resigned earlier this year to become an outside advisor to the president.
Mr. Trump’s announcement comes as AI faces growing concerns from U.S. tech executives and residents.
Earlier this week, leaders of the world’s largest AI companies publicly called for a slowdown in development of the fast-growing technology after warnings that rapid progress could outpace the ability to safely develop it.
After safety researchers at leading US-based AI company Anthropic warned there was a more than 10% chance that the technology “could kill all of humanity” within the next 10 years, President Trump criticized it as a “hoax”.
“Robots are not going to take over,” President Trump said Monday in a phone call with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during the All-In Summit. “AI will never conquer the world.”
Sachs, who currently chairs the Trump administration’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, was also skeptical about regulating the technology.
In a recent interview with CBS News, Sachs suggested that concerns that AI could harm humans are overblown.
“I think this is building to panic,” he said.
The growing number of data centers is facing growing opposition from communities across the United States over their use of natural resources and their role in soaring energy costs. The issue is one that has brought together lawmakers from both major U.S. political parties around concerns raised by these communities in the run-up to November’s U.S. midterm elections. But on Saturday, President Trump also slammed the attack on the AI data center, calling the facility “prestigious.”
President Trump said the facilities “are the result of higher wages, lower taxes, and safer streets,” repeating comments he made last month when he said communities that don’t want them “will end up being backward and poorer.”
“President Trump’s stance on AI is increasingly out of sync with public sentiment, including among his own voters,” Al Jazeera’s Eva Mackend wrote on Saturday.
She reported that residents in some of the most conservative parts of the United States are actively pushing back against AI data centers, even though they support Trump in the 2024 election. That backlash was reflected earlier this week when the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill, 417-3, that would minimize the impact of AI data center power usage on U.S. residents’ utility bills.
But despite growing calls to rein in AI, President Trump’s announcement Saturday reflects an anti-regulatory, pro-growth stance on technology he believes is key to competing with China.
The issue is expected to be a central topic at the summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington, D.C., next week.
